Disruptor Designer and her Model
by TheNovelArtist
Summary: Designer Ladybug had taken the fashion world by storm, but her unconventional ways caused quite the upset among the 'traditionalists." Considering his father was one of them, Adrien couldn't help but find it amusing. Especially when his path crosses with hers, and he soon finds he doesn't really want them to part.
1. Kiss

**_A/N: Guess who got her butt in gear early and is starting a Love Square month on time? XD Meaning daily updates for the month of June ;)_**

* * *

**_1\. Kiss_**

Adrien was sixteen when he visited New York for the first time. An overrated city, if you asked him. The only reason he was here was because he had been dragged along by his father to go meet Ms. Audrey Bourgeois, her daughter, and her protégé.

The first thing that was abundantly clear was that Adrien wanted to spend as little time as humanly possible around Miss Chloe, Ms. Bourgeois' daughter. Clingy and entitled was the best way to describe it. There really wasn't much of a difference between her and most of his fangirls.

However, there was one person that they didn't get to meet.

"I thought you said I would be meeting your protégé," his father said.

"Yes," Ms. Bourgeois began, her scowl deepening. "Except I had to let her go."

Gabriel rose a single brow.

"Yes," the woman said with an exaggerated sigh. "It's a long story I don't care to bore you with, but she didn't have the… _tenacity_ to do what we do here. She simply didn't _fit_. Mercy and sweetness have no place in a ruthless world of fashion."

Adrien disagreed, but he couldn't exactly tell a woman as famous as Audrey Bourgeois otherwise.

"Now," she continued, "shall we start the tour of my headquarters?"

And that was the beginning of one of the most boring tours Adrien had been on. Not that he'd been on many interesting ones when it came to offices. An office was an office, and despite working in fashion, he really didn't care much for it.

So, when he was granted the opportunity to slip away, he gladly took it.

He wandered down a hallway with the intent of pulling out his phone and playing whatever game seemed interesting, but he paused when he heard crying. Curious, Adrien followed the sound to a storage room. And upon peeking inside, spotted a girl sitting on the floor, her legs curled to her chest and her head hidden between her knees.

Adrien knocked, startling the girl. She froze but didn't lift her head. "Are you okay?" he asked.

The girl remained frozen.

"Can I come in?"

"Leave me," she said.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'll be gone soon enough. Don't worry. You don't have to kick me out."

"Who said anything about kicking you out?"

At that, the girl finally raised her head.

Adrien gave her a smile, hoping to put her at ease as he walked up to her and knelt beside her. "Hey," he said with a weak wave.

She stared for a moment before a look of horror crossed her face. "Oh my gosh," she whined. "You're Adrien Agreste."

He gave her a smile and a nod. "That I am."

In a second, she buried her head between her knees again. "How humiliating."

"Hey, no. Don't worry," he tried to placate. "You're upset over something. There's nothing shameful about that. Do you want someone to talk to?"

She shook her head. "I can't. I don't want to get in trouble."

"I won't tell," he said. "I swear on my life I will not tell a soul."

Again, she stared at him blankly before giving a pitiful smile. "I'm sorry, but I can't."

He nodded. "Fair enough. But do you want to talk about it in vague terms?"

With a heavy sigh, she curled up on herself again, resting her chin on her arms crossed over her knees that were still pulled up to her chest. "Let's just say," she began. "That I had a really good opportunity. And I worked really hard to prove myself, only for it to fall apart because I… I apparently don't have the traits needed to continue."

Adrien frowned. "That happens," he said. "Just because you're passionate over something doesn't mean you have the talent for it. There are times you can practice enough to overcome that, though. You just have to work harder."

She looked at him. "But… I can't. Because the opportunity I had is gone and the likelihood of having another one is zero."

"Can you make your own opportunity?"

She frowned. "What?"

"Can you make your own opportunity?" he repeated. "You have a goal in mind, obviously. Can you reach that goal another way?"

She shrugged. "I mean… I can. But there are a lot of other people going that route, and it's going to take longer, and there are only so many positions open, and none of it is going be like this opportunity that I lost, so what do I do?"

Adrien paused to think. "Well," he said. "I think it's time to trailblaze."

Her brow furrowed and her head tilted. He could say with honesty that despite the trails of mascara on her cheeks, she was still really cute. "Trailblaze?"

"My father was told by a lot of people that he couldn't be a fashion designer. And the regular 'college, internship, job, boss' model wasn't exactly working for him. He couldn't even get past the 'college' phase because he just 'wasn't cut out to be a fashion designer' everyone said. So, he basically said 'screw it all' and made his own way, only to be discovered by Ms. Bourgeois which lead to his success. I'm saying that anything is possible, and if you really want to get one of those spots at the end of whatever path you're on, you might have to trailblaze a different route to do it. So don't give up, okay?"

She sat there, her mouth slightly agape as she stared at him. "You…" She blinked a few times, clearly struggling with her words. "You really think it's possible?"

He smiled. "I'll bet there's hope for you yet," he said. "You just have to work twice as hard to get it, now."

Just then, his phone went off. He pulled it out, only to see a message from his father demanding his return to his side.

With a sigh, Adrien stood, knowing he needed to not press his father any further. "I must be off, my lady. It was an honor keeping you company."

"No," she said, scrambling to her feet. "The honor is mine. I… thank you so much for all your kind words."

He smiled. "Keep your chin up," he said, taking her hand and raising it to his lips. "There's always hope for those who keep pressing forward."

With that, he pressed a kiss to her knuckles like any gentleman would do. Underneath the smeared make-up, he could see her blush.

_Cute._ He thought before giving her a salute and heading out of the room.

* * *

_Trailblaze, huh?_ Marinette asked as she boarded a plane back to Paris. She'd been in New York only a couple months after Audrey Bourgeois discovered her and practically begged her to come back to New York as her protégé. Marinette had been so excited about it and agreed on the spot, knowing that it was a fantastic opportunity.

Apparently, said opportunity meant sacrificing who she was to be molded into something she wouldn't be proud of. She'd had to step back to her moral boundary, and she'd paid the price for it.

But Adrien's words lingered in her mind. _Trailblaze._ _Find a new way to the goal._

And so, that's what she decided to do. Fashion was her biggest love, and if she had to work at the bakery for a long time until she could turn her love of fashion into a career, that wouldn't be so bad.

Would it be hard? Yes? But the biggest question was would the pay-off be worth it?

Halfway through the flight, she decided her answer. And by the time she was back in Paris, she had sketched out a plan for a new trail.


	2. Famous

**_2\. Famous_**

Had you told a teenaged Marinette that by age twenty-three she would take the fashion world by storm, she might have stared in awe but ultimately hoped to believe it.

However, she never thought her storm would take this form. She wasn't exactly working as some big label designer. She wasn't exactly known for her pieces on the runway. Instead, she'd somehow metamorphosized into _Ladybug_: fashion icon, blogger, critic, and all-around web sensation.

It hadn't been easy. She'd wanted to quit more than once. But now, she was loved by millions of followers on several social media platforms as being the sweetest, most genuine, most down-to-earth fashion icon.

Funny how the trait that Audrey said would be her ruin was the cause of her success.

When she had arrived home after Audrey had dismissed her as a protégé, she let herself have a few days off to recover and readapt to life at home. Then, she started a blog, learning how to write good posts. She called herself Ladybug, hoping to not only be an easy to remember name, but to give her a little luck as she started out on the endeavor. After a few months, she transitioned into vlogging with the encouragement of her friend Alya. And within six months of that, she started doing tutorials on random things, like sewing and designing and fixing clothes.

That had been huge for her, and she saw a massive influx of growth. Meaning tutorials began getting put up more often and she began asking her followers what they wanted to see.

But what really made her strike it big was her "Budget Runway" series. It had been a whim of a video, but it was loved by her fans. It transitioned to a weekly thing where she'd find herself with only a certain amount of money in hand and a high-end look she was aiming to emulate. It skyrocketed her fame to a million subscribers, which was one killer eighteenth birthday gift.

It also came at the price of getting her hated by some of the fashion designers whose fashion looks she copied. She had to shrug it off. She had fun doing this and loved being able to talk with people like her—aka: people with good fashion sense and small bank accounts.

She then, just for the heck of it, started doing complete looks, meaning hair and make-up tutorials as well. Soon, she found herself cranking out three videos a week and interacting with her fans heavily on all forms of social media.

Then came the opportunity to travel to Milan for a fashion show. Travel, hotel, and up-close seats were all paid for, and Marinette was positively beside herself.

She critiqued everything, which was what she was sponsored to do. And then ruined her standing with even more designers when she took those runway outfits and played "Budget Runway" in Milan, which her fans actually liked more than the actual runway show. At least, she could say she wasn't exactly copying the designs, but they were similar enough that everyone wanted her knock-off versions over the original.

Because, in the words of her fans, why pay for the real thing when hers looked just as good? After all, they could afford her versions. Because that was her audience: the I-need-to-shop-on-a-budget group. Which was, if she thought about it, a huge group of people to market to.

Her favorite collaboration was when she was paid to play that game in some big-name department stores. At least they loved her, even if the high-end designers of the fashion world didn't. And those stores loved her enough that by the age of twenty-one, she had her own affordable fashion line in a handful of them.

She was absolutely living the dream.

It was such an amazing feeling to be able to live off something she loved so much. While she could afford a penthouse suite in Paris with her current popularity, big and fancy just wasn't her style, nor a style she wanted to pay for long term. She chose something a little more modest to call home. It had two bedrooms, one of which she used as an office, and a nice living space for her and her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Tikki.

"So, Tikki," she said to the pup as she sorted through her mail: a task and a half with all her fan-mail. "What do you think this lovely golden ticket is?"

The pup barked, looking up at her owner while wagging her tail.

Marinette giggled as she opened the shimmery envelope with a loopy font on the front. The card inside was golden, and as Marinette read it over, her jaw slowly fell to the floor.

After all, she'd just been invited to a very fancy dinner that was attended by all the greatest fashion idols. Which usually meant Gabriel Agreste. Who was nearly always shadowed by his son.

Marinette lit up like the sun. "I might see Adrien."

With a new excitement, she bolted into her office to where a picture of Adrien's latest ad was hanging, right below the word she'd written in vivid red on her wall.

_Trailblaze_

"I might be able to meet you again," she said to the picture, bouncing up and down like an excited school girl instead of a composed young woman of twenty-three. "And actually be able to thank you for everything you did for me."

_And beg you for a date,_ she mentally finished.

After all, that smile he'd given her that day when she was sobbing her heart out had stuck with her throughout the years. It had been little brighter than any photoshoot he did, making him look twice as handsome. And the words he gave her, and his earnestness, his gentle voice…

She was a mess, and she wasn't anywhere near him yet.

"Oh please," she begged. "Please be there. Please… let me see you again."

…

"I expect you'll make room in your schedule for this, Adrien."

"Yes, father," he agreed. Adrien really didn't want to go to this fashion dinner thing, but he didn't have a good excuse to sneak out of it. Not when he was the face and heir of the Agreste brand_. _He was a bigger deal than he needed—or wanted—to be.

"Especially since this dinner has the potential to be disastrous, I'd like you there to commiserate with me."

Adrien smirked. "How so? Actually, how so more than usual?" After all, most of these dinners ended up being immensely boring and flat. Either that, or a designer with enough alcohol in their system would let loose on someone else, and next thing you knew, it was front page news in the fashion world. It was freaking hilarious in Adrien's eyes.

"That _Ladybug_ girl is going to be attending this year."

Adrien's eyes widened in shock while he fought against his jaw dropping to the floor. "Ladybug?"

His father grunted. "Yes. Unfortunately. And considering she loves to target many of the other people in attendance, I have no doubt that she will cause quite the disruption for the evening."

Adrien felt his heart skip in excitement. Ladybug herself was going to be there. Only one of the most talented and seemingly genuinely sweet ladies in the fashion world. She was so different than most of the people he met in the industry. Yes, there were kind and sweet people, but she seemed so grounded compared to most. She did fashion tours in regular department stores. She messed up in front of the camera and laughed it off with ease. Her blog posts felt real and genuine. And while she targeted people like his father and other fashion designers, it wasn't out of being mean. She was calling out their designs and their ethics and behaviors. To Adrien, it felt more like she was trying to keep them honest rather than shred them for no reason.

For that, Adrien really liked her.

And now, he was finally going to get to meet her.

He had to bite his lip to keep the grin off his face. Maybe this dinner wouldn't be so bad after all.


	3. Couple

Marinette was beside herself in excitement. After all, she was attending a fashion dinner she could only have dreamt about a few years ago.

She'd spent days sewing a ballgown that would be suitable enough for such an event. She was known as Ladybug, so, she would highlight that fact with her look. The dress' skirt was full of layers of varying length, fading from red like the bodice to black. She decorated her hair with red ribbons, and to finish off her look, she wore a heavy ring of red eyeshadow with a few black dots by the corners of her eyes.

She was sure to make a statement. But that's what Ladybug did.

She was greeted warmly enough by the host, to which Marinette grinned and thanked him for the invitation. When she entered the venue, her jaw dropped. It was practically dripping in crystals, distorting the lighting enough to make the whole place seem like it was glittering. The number of high-class designers here had her fangirling out on the inside.

But suddenly, once the initial awe ebbed, she realized she was standing in the middle of the room, completely out of her league. She didn't do high-society events like this. She did little meet-and-greets with fans. She interacted with regular people, not with people who thought they were above those people.

So how was she supposed to navigate this?

"You look lost."

Marinette jumped at the voice, then spun around…

Only to come face to face with Adrien Agreste.

She bit her tongue to hold in her word vomit until she was able to assemble it into something intelligible. "Maybe a little. I don't exactly do events like… this."

She patted herself on the back for her ability to speak as well as she did.

His grin widened. "Well, then maybe I can escort you around for a while? Until you understand the ropes?"

Her heart was flailing wildly. "That would be really kind of you. I'd appreciate it."

He extended his arm to her, and she gladly took hold of it.

"Have you ever been to an event like this before?" Adrien asked.

She shook her head. "No. I've done large crowd events, but not for the high-class."

He smirked. "Do you have any idea what happens at meetings like this?"

"My guess is a lot of talking business."

"It's _all_ that happens," Adrien informed. "And after a while, it gets rather boring. You learn who likes each other and who hates each other. You learn who's backstabbing who. You learn who you can forge tentative alliances with, and who you can't. You learn market trends and what's likely to be in style and who's hosting what event, etcetera, etcetera."

"You make it sound like we're spies gathering information."

Adrien chuckled. A lovely sound, if Marinette were honest. "You have a lot of people who have _their_ best interests in mind. They want their company at the top, and they do whatever they need to to make sure that happens."

Marinette made a note of that.

"So what I'm trying to say, little Ladybug…" He bent over, his lips now close to her ear. "Is welcome to the wolf den."

* * *

The moment Adrien had watched the angel in red walk down the stairs into the venue, he felt the overwhelming urge to protect her. That smile was too bright, too genuine for this crowd. One that would eat her alive.

He quickly swooped her under his wing, vowing that he would make tonight as enjoyable for her as he could make it. Thankfully, the few people he introduced her to were polite, talking about the fashion in the room over the fashion world in general.

At least, they could get along with that.

And then, dinner was served.

Thanks to assigned seating, Adrien couldn't sit by her. He was seated between his father and another high-ranking designer. Ladybug, on the other hand, was on the other end of the table from him. Meaning he couldn't protect her when one designer decided to pick on her.

"Miss Ladybug, you seem to occupy a… _unique_ sector of the fashion world."

"I don't think the corner I occupy is unique," she responded politely. "Just a different one from you."

The man nodded. "And just how did you decide to occupy that corner?"

She paused, frozen. "Well, it started off as a hobby, and then the more I grew, the more I found ways to reach out to my audience and interact with them and learn from them what they wanted from me."

"An… _interesting _approach," the man said, gathering murmurs of agreement. "So, you would say you run more on the whims of other people than your own?"

"No, sir," she respectfully explained. "I run on my own ideas, but it is my fans that tell me which of my ideas they like more."

"And you find success in that? Letting other people tell you which ideas are the best rather than being the influencer?"

"I am an influencer, but what good is being an influencer if people don't enjoy my content?" Ladybug spoke with authority, her tone strong and her posture proving she was not to be intimidated. "It would be as silly as a fashion designer who made things no one would want to wear. Isn't that why all designers follow the trends the consumers set for them?"

The table went silent, staring at her in shock and awe, and in Adrien's case, in pride. He'd been a follower of hers long enough to know she had to be a genuinely sweet person. The was a darling in the media. She could do no wrong. But apparently, Ladybug had a hard-enough exoskeleton to stand up to some ill-intended conversations.

And for that, his crush for her got a little bit worse.

The next conversation that happened when the next course was served, Adrien didn't quite know how it started, but all he knew was that Ladybug was speaking again.

"I would say most of the market of consumers either doesn't care about high-fashion or can't afford it."

"If most of the market doesn't care," some man said. "Then we wouldn't have a business."

There was a collective laughter at that. Adrien was watching Ladybug, already thinking of the best way to defuse the conversation if worse came to worse.

"What market are you talking about?" Ladybug challenged. "Everyone in the world wears clothes of some sort."

"Yes," a woman in a sleek black dress across from Ladybug said. "But what about people in our positions? People who need to present themselves as best they can? Men's suits are a huge industry. And what about the women's side? Does the average high-class woman not like looking as best they can? Having matching purses and shoes for every outfit?"

Ladybug stared down the woman.

"Of course," Audrey Bourgeois herself spoke up. "Ladybug, you as a woman should know that a handbag can make the difference between looking sloppy or being at the height of fashion."

"Yes, but height of fashion does not mean a two-thousand-dollar bag. That is the height of status. It's entirely possible to spend less than two hundred and look like a millionaire just like it's possible to shop in any last one of your stores and look like a complete fashion disaster."

Adrien had to bite his cheek to keep from laughing. _Oh Ladybug,_ he thought, looking at the girl who smirked as she observed the lines of people with their jaws on the table. _You have no idea what you've just started._

* * *

"I completely ruined any chance of being invited back, haven't I?" she asked Adrien, who had kindly offered to escort her to her car. Marinette didn't think it was too late, but people had started taking their leave shortly after dinner.

"Oh, my lady, you…" He chuckled, his smile bright with amusement. "You did something."

She smacked her hand over her face. "I'm such an idiot."

"Maybe," Adrien said. "But I thought that was the most interesting dinner I've ever been to. For someone so 'beneath their status', you certainly put them all in their place."

She groaned. What an idiot she was. How dare she say _any_ of that. But having watched those people staring down at her… it was like being bullied back in high school and she'd sworn she'd never let people walk all over her like that again.

And while she'd felt empowered at the time, she realized that these were the kind of people who could tear her apart in the fashion world. They could destroy her.

"But," Adrien continued, pulling her from her thoughts. "I honestly loved watching you do it."

Her heart that had been racing with anxiety beforehand came to a screeching halt. And so did she, she soon realized when he turned around to look at her. "What?"

Adrien gave her a sweet, warm grin that could knock her to her knees at the moment. "I've been around people like that my whole life," he said. "And it's honestly so tiring watching all these really pretentious people who think they're high and mighty because of their money and status, and some of them think they know everything.

"And then here you come," he continued, taking a couple steps closer to close the distance. "Not a care in the world for their status or what they could do to you, and when they start bullying you, you just put them in their place and act like a queen doing it."

She felt like she was going to pass out on the spot.

"And let me tell you, I am going to get some serious crap from my dad for showing you around tonight and escorting you out like we're some couple instead of near strangers, but I honestly couldn't care less. Because from what I can tell, it was worth it. And…" He shuffled nervously, glancing down at his feet for a second before meeting her gaze once again. "You're a very interesting woman, Miss Ladybug, and I would really like if you would grant me the opportunity to take you out on a date."


	4. Model

What do say to a model who asks you out?

Because in that very moment, despite having planned to ask him out in the first place, Marinette was at a blank of how to respond.

Adrien looked plenty shy about it, and with each second of silence, he was growing more and more restless. "I'm sorry," he eventually said. "Forget I asked—"

"No!" Marinette cried, reaching out to grab his hand. "I… I'm the one who's sorry. I just… am a little shocked, you know. Because… "_Because you inspired me to be who I am today._

But she couldn't say it. She completely and totally clammed up and couldn't say it.

"Because…" she forced herself to continue. "I've been a fan of you for years now."

_Fan._ She inwardly scoffed. _Wildly and madly in love with you, more like._

"And I just… couldn't believe you're the one asking me out. Especially since your dad kinda hates me."

He blinked in surprise before a smile slowly crawled across his lips. "It's actually kinda funny. Because I thought you were… well… pretty _spot on_, Miss Ladybug, about what you said about my dad and that year's designs. But I think he's actually madder about all the times you take his runway looks and dress up people in similar fashions from department stores. Particularly when I'm the one modeling said outfit."

Marinette giggled, mostly out of embarrassment. "You make a great model."

He shrugged. "Models are pretty faces who make a living as professional posers. Pretty pathetic, to be honest."

Marinette wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.

"But I do watch your show," he continued. "And, I actually know a lot of people who work in the fashion industry who watch you, too. Whether it's because they like you or the concept of the show or because they want to see who you're copying, people like your channel. And frankly… so do I. It's… kinda my favorite thing to watch when I'm stuck in photoshoots."

Again, her jaw could just drop to the floor. "Y-you, Adrien Agreste, son of the famous fashion designer Gabriel Agreste, watch _me_?"

Adrien chuckled. "I do. I've been a fan for a few years, now. Honestly, since we both live in Paris, I like watching your show then going around to the stores you visit and comparing the items I know from the runway to the items you find. It's… kinda a dorky hobby—"

"No way," Marinette said. "That's… really… I don't know, it is kinda dorky but in a cute way?"

Oh dear, someone please kill her. The word vomit was returning.

He blushed.

Adrien Agreste _blushed_. Because of _her._

"Anyway," he said. "I… never got an answer to if you'd let me take you on a date or not."

Marinette's eyes widened in horror. "Yes!" she said. "Yes. You can. Please. I'd love to go on a date with you."

His grin widened. "Great. That's… that's awesome."

Marinette did her best to hold her composure and not dissolve into girly squeals right then and there.

"So, um… I guess I should ask when?"

"I'm flexible," she said.

"One of the nice things about being self-employed, I guess," he said.

She nodded. "Yeah. It makes it really convenient."

"I bet," he said. "So… um… this Thursday night?"

She tried to recall is she had anything Thursday and came up empty. "That sounds good."

"Good," he said with a nod. "Um… any place in mind."

"Not really," she said. "I don't eat out often. I like cooking at home."

"Then I'll surprise you?"

"Please do." Her heart was racing, and her mind was going haywire, but she was more than happy to subject herself to such sweet torture.

He blushed again and looked away. "I'll come pick you up? What time?"

"Um… seven? Is that too late?"

"Seven works," he agreed. "And lastly, where to pick you up?"

Marinette nearly gave him her address when her brain decided to work for point two seconds. "How about I text you?"

His eyes widened in shock. "Right," he said, scrambling to pull his phone out of the back pocket of his trousers. "Phone. Good idea."

She giggled nervously, but seeing him nervous, too, it somehow made her feel better. He wasn't completely suave or laughing at her embarrassment. They were somehow suffering here together.

She plugged in her number to his phone, and he instantly texted her a cat emoji. She giggled, but then sent her address to him. "There."

His grin widened. "So Thursday at seven, I'll be there."

"I look forward to it."

"So do I," he said.

Together, they walked to the valet booth, Adrien insisting that Marinette get her car retrieved first. There, then chatted a moment longer until a red bug came rolling up.

"Why am I not surprised," Adrien teased with a grin.

"Probably because you shouldn't be," she responded.

He chuckled.

"Well, Adrien, I guess this is good night."

"Wait," he said, reaching out to grab her hand and stopping her before she could head out. "Before Cinderella disappears into the night and drives off in a pumpkin—"

Marinette giggled.

"Can I learn Miss Ladybug's real name?"

She looked up at him, wanting to get lost in green eyes so full of hope that she simply couldn't crush. "It's Marinette."

"Marinette," he repeated, trying the name on his tongue and melting her in the process. "Well, Marinette…" He pulled her hand up to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back, "until we meet again. Good night."

Her heart was racing a million miles an hour, and it wasn't going to slow down any time soon. "Good night."


	5. Damsel

Adrien's heart was racing. He was going on a date with Ladybug.

He was going on a _date_ with _Ladybug._

He was so excited he didn't know how to contain himself.

He spent extra time getting ready, making sure he looked his best. She had looked completely stunning at the dinner—which shouldn't be surprising considering she did everything from design to doing hair and make-up—so he wanted to dress to impress. After all, he was kinda hoping this date lead to a second one.

Was that pathetic when the first date hadn't even started yet? He didn't know.

After he got out of his house and hurried to his car, he pulled out his lint roller and got as much cat hair off his button down and black vest ensemble as he could. He loved his cat, but the hair everywhere was a pain.

Sometimes, he questioned just why he thought it was a good idea to adopt a long-haired, black cat. It was mostly his first act of rebellion, one he regretted from the fur standpoint_._

He drove to her address, looking over the modest apartments before finding a place to park and shoot her off a text message that he was here. He walked to the front door, only to see that it was keycard only, but before he could pull out his phone, asking her to buzz him in, she appeared through the glass door. "Hey," she said, swinging the door open.

"Hey," he returned, looking her over. It was really hard not to when she was in an adorable, full-skirted, red cocktail dress. Her make up wasn't quite as strong as it was the night of the dinner, but there were still hints of red in her eyeshadow along with a perfect, black cat-eye. "You look fantastic."

Her grin widened, causing a warm feeling to wash over him. "Thank you," she said. "You look really handsome yourself."

"Thanks," he responded before extending his elbow to her. "Well, shall we?"

"Such a gentleman," she said, taking his elbow.

He felt like he was leading around a princess as he walked her to his car.

"Is this your car?" she asked, looking the sleek, black sports car over.

"It is," he said. "A, um, birthday gift from my father to make sure I was presentable enough."

She whistled. "Wow. It looks sharp."

"Thank you, but personally, I kinda feel like it makes me look like a rich prick."

She snorted a laugh. "I mean, I can see that," she said, her smile wide and eyes dancing with mirth.

He opened the passenger side door for her.

"Wow, I don't know what to be more impressed about: the car or the manners."

He blushed, hard. Frankly, he was sure he looked like a tomato at this point.

Soon enough, he was driving her to the restaurant he booked reservations at. She asked where they were going, he told her it was a surprise, and that's how they started the guessing game of Marinette asking questions about the place with Adrien answering and having her guess.

"I've actually never been here before," she said once they had a seat at the table.

"It's one of my favorite places," Adrien said. "I mean, it may seem like a little hole-in-the-wall place, but I prefer it over some of the 'higher-class establishments', if you will."

"No, I love the vibe of this place," she said. "It seems so homey."

"It's comfortable," he said. "Classic. And the food is amazing."

"Well, that's the important thing, isn't it?"

He chuckled. "Well, it _is_ a deciding factor if someone comes back or not."

They shared a laugh just as the waiter came up to them.

They placed their order, and the waiter suggested wines to compliment, which they each accepted.

"So," Adrien asked. "I've been wanting to ask you for a while, but I've always been a little curious about your story. How you got to where you are. Because you could have went the traditional route, and with your designs that I've seen, you would have been accepted and welcomed anywhere. So why… why the social media route? For you to get where you've gotten, that's no easy road. I mean, it wouldn't have been easy the other way, either, but starting from scratch, building yourself as an icon from the ground up, that's even harder."

Marinette paused, her smile fading, and Adrien wondered if that was a terrible question to ask.

"Well," she began. "I… actually did start the traditional route. I got really, _really_ lucky at fifteen. It still blows my mind a bit, but… I got offered the chance to work as Audrey Bourgeois' protégé."

Adrien's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. "What?"

She nodded. "Yeah. And, as you could guess, I was positively ecstatic, you know? But, that lasted all of two months before she decided she made a mistake and told me that, basically, I was too nice to be in the industry and I'd never make it if I kept it up. And I knew I couldn't ever just stop being nice. Like… how do you _do_ that? And so, I was forced to take up her other offer of a plane ticket back home and the knowledge I'd never make it in the industry.

"And then just as I was resigning myself to giving up everything I loved… you came in and told me to trailblaze."

This time, Adrien's mouth did fall open. "Wait… what?"

She nodded "Do… do you remember?" she asked, hesitant. "That day, like, eight years ago when you found me crying in the office?"

The gears started turning in his mind, slowly recalling that day he was in New York, in Audrey's office building. He huffed incredulously. "Yeah," he said. "I do. Because I just wanted to sneak away from another boring office tour."

"Well, your sneaking away meant you saved a damsel in distress. I've wanted to thank you for years because… well, I would never be where I am without you. So thank you."

Slowly, his smile grew. "My lady," he said, reaching over the table to grab her hand. "Trust me, even back then, you were no damsel in distress. I just helped you get down from the tower. It was you who stormed the castle and made yourself a queen."

She looked away, her cheeks taking on a red hue.

Frankly, he couldn't believe he just said that, either. _Smooth, _he thought, mentally patting himself on the back. _That was _really_ smooth._

"Flatterer," she whispered.

He rubbed the back of his neck, his own cheeks flooding with more heat. "Just the truth," he said. "But, if what I said to you that day made that much of a difference, I'm very glad I could offer encouragement."

"Trust me," she said. "If it weren't for you, I'd be working at my parents' bakery, thinking that was all I'd ever do with my life. Not that that's a bad thing—!"

"No, I know," he cut in. "It's just not what you wanted to do."

She relaxed. "Yeah. So, thank you, Adrien, for encouraging me that day. I couldn't have done anything without you."

Adrien felt like his heart could burst. "I'm glad I could have offered such assistance, my lady."


	6. Working Together

"How did we come to this idea?" Marinette asked, looking at a wickedly smirking Adrien.

"Because you said so yourself," Adrien returned, not taking his eyes off the road as he drove. "You could walk into any designer brand store and walk out looking like a fashion disaster."

"Yes," Marinette agreed. "Some three weeks ago."

If she thought about it long enough, she would realize that that meant she'd been dating Adrien for just over two weeks. Which… well, it floored her. She could care less about dating a model, particularly since she knew horror stories about models and dealing with them. But Adrien was so genuinely sweet and humble that she felt like she just scored in the boyfriend department.

And the fact he didn't look half bad didn't hurt, either.

"But it's a really funny idea," Adrien said, grin splitting his face.

"We could get kicked out," she said. "I'm kinda on your dad's hitlist. I know I'm on several other's since the party, particularly of one Audrey Bourgeois."

Adrien cringed. "Yeah, that article on you… _not_ your most flattering."

She snorted a laugh. "She called me an egotistical, arrogant, petty bitch. Nice to know that ends up in the 'not flattering' category instead of the 'articles written to ruin you' catrgory."

He was slow to respond, his mouth open as if he wanted to say something but couldn't.

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

"I mean," he said, fingers drumming the steering wheel, "hopefully none of your followers believed it."

"Maybe a few," she said. "But I didn't recognize a hit in my numbers or anything."

"I think your response to that article was what sealed it in for you," Adrien said. "You didn't respond in anger."

"Oh, trust me, I was plenty angry," she said. "But you have to learn to let things go."

Adrien glanced over before reaching a hand over the console to grab hers. "I'm proud of you," he said, giving it a squeeze.

Marinette had been handling situations like that long before Adrien came into her life again, but still, hearing him say that filled her with a warmth and security that she did the right thing. "Thank you, Adrien."

And then those warm feelings faded when he parked in front of a Gabriel brand store.

"Your dad is going to kill us."

"Yeah, but it will be fun while it lasts. Now come on, let's go."

* * *

"You're sure we can film in here?" Marinette asked.

"Well," Adrien returned with a grin. "I _am_ the son of the owner. I _do_ have rank here."

Marinette sighed again while she pulled out her camera. "Your dad is going to kill us."

Adrien smirked. "My dad will kill _me_ for guest starring in one of your videos. Trust me, I'm in deep trouble no matter how you look at it."

"Then why am I agreeing to this?"

"Because I'm twenty-four and my father can't really ground me. So come on, let's do this."

This time, Marinette finally raised the camera, ready to start filming. "Hey everyone, Ladybug here. Now, as you can see I'm here with a rather special guest today, M Adrien Agreste!"

He gave a smile and a wave.

"Now, today, we're gonna do something a _little_ bit different than the usual. Actually, we're gonna do the direct opposite. Today we are in Gabriel's, which… Adrien, I'm pretty sure your face is all over the store, modeling half these clothes and looking rather put together doing it."

"That is kinda the point of modeling," Adrien said. "To look as nice as possible. But it gets overrated after a while, don't you think?"

Ladybug giggled. "Well, just _what_ do you propose we do about that?"

"Well," he said, a wicked smirk growing across his face. "I'm thinking it would be fun to see just how big of a fashion disaster one can become in such a high-fashion store."

Ladybug turned a wild grin on him, and he had to fight to keep standing. "I think that's a fantastic idea." She turned back to the camera. "So Ladybug-gers, stick around as we try to make the worst fashion style we can with clothes right here from Gabriel's, and at the end, vote in the comments about who you think wore it worse."

She then turned back to Adrien. "You ready to go?"

He grinned. "My lady, I was born ready."

She giggled. "May the best style win."

* * *

Marinette was going to be forever banned from stepping foot into another high-end fashion store. But even though the whole day was ridiculous, as well as nerve-wracking because the manager nearly kicked the two of them out before Adrien stepped in and said that they had a right to be there, she had a blast.

Now, she was sitting in her office with Adrien at her side while she finished the last bit of pre-posting work. "Are you ready for this?" she asked. "Because once this goes up, it's never coming down."

He grinned. "I'm ready for any consequences I face. It will all have been worth it for the opportunity to work together with you."

She blushed bright red before turning back to her computer and hitting the "upload" button. Hopefully, this video wouldn't get him in trouble because she really hoped she'd get to work with him again.


	7. Fencing

"My father found out about the video," Adrien said.

Marinette cringed, giving his hand a squeeze. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry? I'm the one who suggested it."

"I shouldn't have agreed," Marinette countered. "What'd he say?"

"Oh, he's livid beyond belief." Which was a bit of an understatement, to be honest. Adrien couldn't remember another time seeing his father so angry at him.

Marinette groaned, burying her head in his shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," he said, fighting the desperate urge to kiss her hair. "Honestly, the response that video got was worth it."

She raised her head to look at him skeptically. "Really?"

"It was trending number four for a few hours. That's your biggest hit yet, right?"

"I mean… yeah," she said. "But I don't want that at the cost of you getting in trouble."

He smiled, her concern warming his heart. "Honestly, I deem it worth it. I think that was the most fun I've had filming anything. At least, in a long while."

Her smile was sweet. "Well, I'm at least glad about that. Not about you getting in trouble."

"I told you, don't worry." He let go of her hand, only to reach out and wrap his arm around her shoulders, causing her to trip close to him. "It's handled. Now, to the point of me asking you out today."

"Oh? Marinette said, her eyebrow quirking in curiosity and her lips curling into a smug, lopsided grin. "So you have an agenda for asking me out?"

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck out of habit. Adrien didn't know why he as so hesitant to ask. They'd been dating for nearly four weeks now, long enough where Adrien should feel comfortable in asking her. His mind was still spinning over the fact he was dating Ladybug. "I… you know I fence, and I wanted to invite you to my tournament this Saturday."

Her expression fell, and he instantly regretted. "If you can't, it's fine."

"What time?" she asked. "Because I promised to visit with my parents Saturday night last week."

"It will last from nine in the morning until whenever I'm disqualified or win. Hopefully win. So, late evening."

She frowned. "I can show up for the morning," she said. "But I may have to go early. I promised my parents by four."

"I'd appreciate if you were able to show up at all."

She smiled. "I'll be there at the beginning. Just text me where it's being held at and how to get in."

"Will do." He paused his walk in order to squeeze her close. "Thank you. It means a lot when anyone is able to show up for me."

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean my dad doesn't show up anymore, and Nathalie is always busy. And then my friend who usually shows is out of the country at the moment."

"I'll be there," she said, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. "I promise. This Ladybug will be your lucky charm."

When she shot him a wink, he felt like a goner. It was hopeless. Four weeks of dating, and he was already head over heels in love with this woman.

* * *

The day of the tournament, and Adrien was anxiously scanning the crowd for his lucky Ladybug. He trusted her to show up, but he hadn't found her yet.

"Adrien!" his instructor, M D'argencourt, called out. "Prepare yourself for the match."

As hard as it was, he pulled his eyes away from the crowd and ducked into the locker room to finish preparing for his match.

She was just late, he told himself. She had to be. She promised him she'd come, and he trusted her to keep that promise.

By the time he went out to face his opponent, he had steeled himself, vowing to do his best as he usually did. But that was when he caught the flash of red in the stands. He turned to look, only to see Ladybug there, with a huge sign that said "Go Adrien Agreste!" in bold, red letters with Ladybugs doodled all over sign.

He smiled, his heart soaring and a new urge to win surging through him.

He had a lady he was competing for, now. He'd do everything he could to make her proud.

For three hours, he won match after match before finally being allowed to take a break.

He was quick to slip from the locker room and find her in the crowd, lost in her sketchbook for the time being.

He sided up to her. "Hey."

She startled, looking up at him, but quickly squealed in happiness. "Hey!" She tackled him in a hug. "You're doing so well!"

He chuckled. "Thank you. I've been lucky this far, but the competitors are only going to get better from here on out."

"I'm sure you'll do great," she said.

His grin couldn't go any wider, he was certain of it. "I like the sign, by the way."

"Good!" she cried, reaching for the rolled-up sign at her side. "I thought you might."

"I get a handful of girls with signs, but that's the first one I've ever cared for."

"Well, Adrien Agreste _is_ a pretty big deal," she said.

"So is Ladybug."

She shrugged in dismissal.

Together, they ate lunch. Adrien's was light, considering he had to go back out soon enough.

"Hey," Marinette said, lightly kicking his shoe to grab his attention. "How about tomorrow, we go out and celebrate your win?"

"Who says I'll win the contest?"

"I do," she said. "You have Lucky Ladybug as your lucky charm. Of course you'll win."

"Until you have to go," he pouted.

She pouted, too. "I know, which is why I thought of something."

Adrien watched as she untied the ribbon in her hair, letting her black locks cascade out of its ponytail and down her shoulders. She kissed the black and red spotted ribbon, then wrapped it around his bicep. "Your good luck charm for when I leave you."

He looked down at the ribbon, reverently running his fingers over the loose ends. "I'll wear your colors with pride."

She grinned, and he felt like she knocked the air out of his lungs.

Three 'o clock rolled around faster than expected. He knew she had to leave early because she had to let her dog out then get ready for dinner. She stayed until he finished his match, but then caught his eye after he was hailed the victor, pointing away and waving good bye. She then patted her bicep and flashed a thumbs up.

He touched the ribbon on his arm, smiling back up at her. She'd be with him whether she was physically present or not.

Later, when he was presented with a gold medal at the end of the day, he'd attribute his win to his lucky charm.

He wore his lucky charm home around his wrist, fondly looking over the black and red spotted pattern. When putting the medal down on his table as a reminder to find another place to put it, he put the ribbon down with it. He also wondered if he had to give it back, or if he was allowed to keep his good luck charm with his medal for display.


	8. Valentine

Adrien was practically begging for his father to fire him at this point. Why else would he be appearing in yet another one of Ladybug's videos?

That is, until Marinette shot him a grin and he remembered _oh yeah; she's why_.

"Ready?" Marinette asked.

He nodded. "Let's go."

She started the camera, then sat down beside him and pulled a box from the floor on her lap. She took a steadying breath, then looked over at him. "So, what's in the box there, Agreste?"

He looked down at the large box in his lap. "Well, I'm glad you asked, Ladybug. I have a bunch of surprises for you."

"For me?" she said, putting her hand over her chest in exaggerated surprise.

"Of course," he said. "What's in _your_ box, 'bug."

She glanced down at the box. "Things for you."

"For me?" he asked, pretending to be flattered.

"Yup. Time to play dress up the model."

Adrien chuckled. This was where he knew she'd cut and insert her title card, so he didn't feel bad for messing up the take.

"What's up, everyone. Ladybug here, joined again by M Adrien Agreste, if that wasn't obvious by the title card. And it's also pretty obvious that we each do have boxes in our laps. Now, the reason is that Adrien and I kinda went on an online shopping spree… for each other.

"Now, for a while, you guys have been begging for me to review some online companies, and so, we are. In these boxes—" She and Adrien both lifted the boxes into the air. "—are a bunch of suits and dresses that we got for each other off a certain, popular online store that sells everything from designer stuff to inexpensive knock-offs. So, Adrien," she said, turning back to him. "Would you like to see what I got you?"

"I very much would. And I'm sure you're dying to know what I got for you."

"I'm hoping that your career as a model has paid off because if you make me look ridiculous, you're in serious trouble."

He laughed, and so did she.

Next thing he knew, the camera location was changed, and he was hiding behind her dressing screen to change.

And was already irritated with the shirt before he could finish buttoning it down.

"Okay!" He cried, from behind the screen. He knew the camera was rolling to catch any behind-the-screen exclamations, just as she had in her videos, so he was more than happy to shout as he finished the ensemble. "What in the world is this shirt?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, her voice already light with amusement.

"I mean…" he began, stepping out from the screen and already garnering laughter. "I'm wearing a freaking bag."

Laughing at the sight of him, Marinette walked over to her, already pulling at the extra fabric.

"Did you get the wrong size?" he asked.

"No, I got the size you told me to get. But this thing isn't fitting well anywhere."

"Oh, you think?" he teased.

She snorted a laugh. "Put on the vest to hide all… _that_ and we'll go from there."

The vest, at least, fit somewhat okay.

After ranting about the quality and giving marks to all the outfit's pieces, it was Marinette's turn to try out the dress.

"All right, Adrien. I'm impressed with this one."

And when she emerged from behind the screen, so was he.

He swallowed and forced a "that looks great on you" before his mind could shut down completely.

If this was how he was going to react to this dress, he was positively going to die with the other ones.

After over an hour of trying on clothes and talking about them, they got to the last outfit.

Adrien put on the outfit. "Ladybug, you did good with this one."

"Let me see."

He stepped out from behind the dressing screen and was met immediately by Marinette's gaping expression.

"Woooow." She whistled. "Look at hot stuff."

He blushed. _Oh please, don't let the camera pick it up._

"That looks like it fits you really well," she commented, walking over to him so she could fiddle with his clothes.

"It does," he said. "And it's shockingly comfortable."

"That's awesome."

They talked a little bit about the clothes and the prices, and Adrien was surprised at how inexpensive it was. But then again, he was a little biased considering he grew up with designer clothes.

"This is honestly a great suit," he commented, looking at himself in the mirror. "It doesn't look like it's cheap at all. Honestly, take it to a tailor and splurge to get it custom fitted, and you'll look like you're wearing a thousand-dollar suit. It's not necessary if this is for a prom or something, but—"

"But you're right," Marinette said. "Let me get my pins and play with it."

She did, and for the next few minutes, Adrien stood statue still while Marinette pinned and tucked it together.

"Such a difference," she said once she was finished.

"With it tailored you honestly could not tell the difference between this and some of my other suits in my closet."

"That's saying a lot coming from Adrien Agreste."

"I'm not lying."

Lastly, Marinette got changed into the very last of the dresses. If Adrien were being honest, it wasn't his favorite of the bunch, but there was a reason he got it.

"Remember how I said you were doing really well on the dresses?" Marinette asked from behind the screen.

"Yeah?"

"You failed."

He snorted a laugh.

When she emerged, she was wearing a white dress that was covered in a pink, mini-heart pattern. The skirt was high-low, trialing off in the back, and the neckline was wide and frilly.

"It looks like Valentine's Day threw up on me," she said dryly. "I mean… the skirt is cute," she continued on. "And it has a good shape, though I would need to trim off that train because… _wow_, it's long. And the bodice is nice enough. It fits, but what is up with this neckline?"

He chuckled. "Your rating?"

"Salvageable for a price?" she answered with a cringe.

"Over a hundred?"

Her eyes got wide. "Was this over a hundred?"

"Maybe?"

"Nooooo," she said, turning back to the mirror, horrified. "I wouldn't pay more than twenty."

He tried to withhold his laughter, only for it to come out as a snort.

"How much did you pay for this one?"

"Two-seventy-five."

"NO!" she whisper-screamed, turning toward the camera with her jaw on the ground. "Nooooo."

Adrien laughed.

"Why!" Marinette said, looking at the dress. "It's not that nice, like, at all. Who decided this was fashion?"

"Audrey Bourgeois."

Marinette's eyes widened as she turned back to him. "What?"

He nodded.

"Wait… Are you saying, I'm wearing an 'Audrey's Pick' piece?"

His smile grew wider as he nodded once again.

"Oh no." Her shock turned to amusement as she quickly covered her mouth, and Adrien found it impossible to not laugh.

"Oh no no no. Audrey, what is this?" Marinette looked in the mirror again, spinning around. "And it was on the site?"

"It was," Adrien said.

"Oh no," Marinette cried, bursting into laughter.

Eventually, they calmed, allowing them to finish up the recording. Marinette signed off with her original "Bug out" catchphrase, and the camera was off for the day.

"I cannot believe this is an 'Audrey's Pick'," she repeated, pulling at the ruffles on the neckline.

"I know. I saw it on her website, and then searched for it on the website, and it was there."

"I'm gonna be hated."

He shrugged. "You already are, but that's what fans love about you."

"Gee, some boyfriend you are," she teased.

"I know I am," he returned with a grin. "But really, I think that that dress would make an awesome candidate for one of your make-over videos."

She looked down at it. "I think you're right," she said. "I'll have to play with it and find a way to dial down the hearts."

"You'll make a way," he said. "Maybe you can figure it out and surprise me when I pick you up on a date?" He'd been getting so smooth lately, he couldn't help but grin at himself. _Good job, Agreste. All those lessons from Nino are finally paying off._

She blushed, giggling. "Smooth, hot stuff. Only if you insist."

His cheeks were now on _fire. _"I do."

"Then I can't disappoint now, can I?"

He grinned, his heart warm and fluttering like a butterfly. "Honestly, my lady, I don't think you ever could."


	9. Clumsy

"Ack!" She stuck her finger in her mouth as if that would stop the sting of pain. How clumsy of her, to prick her finger like that like she hadn't been sewing near daily for over ten years now.

This dress had been giving her fits. She'd happily taken on Adrien's challenge to reinvent the dress into something she'd actually wear, but it was proving to be a challenge. The seams were done well, the thread was thick, and her seam ripper was dull.

But not dull enough to stab her.

With her finger no longer bleeding, she took a breath and continued on her task of ripping all the fluff from around the neckline. The neckline itself was fine—she quite liked the wide boatneck, actually— but for the love of her, she could not _stand_ the ruffles. Anywhere.

She almost started laughing again at this being a dress that Audrey herself had handpicked to be in style now. That had sure shocked her. The ruffles? And the print?

Actually, the print wasn't _too_ bad. But not what Marinette would think Audrey would call "high fashion".

Tikki whimpered, calling her attention. Marinette took a look at the clock. "Oh, I'm sorry, Tikki!" she said, putting the dress aside. "It's time for a walk."

It certainly wasn't the first time Tikki had come begging to go out since Marinette had gotten her. Marinette was pretty good at remembering her walk times, but Tikki was always there to remind her if Marinette had forgotten.

Marinette slid the harness on Tikki, and then the two were out. This was one of the reasons Marinette had gotten a dog in the first place. Her mother had, at one point, commented on how lost Marinette got in her work. Which was very much true. Marinette loved her job, almost to the point of obsession. There had been many times Marinette's mom had to remind her that breakfast was not only a few hours ago and that dinner was on the table.

When Marinette moved out, her mother had constantly texted her asking if she'd surfaced from her work. It was a fifty-fifty shot she hadn't.

So, when Alya had suggested a dog, Marinette was originally a little hesitant. After all, that meant she would be responsible for something other than just herself. And she was barely getting by. But Alya had insisted it would be a good idea. A dog would make her surface from her work as well as force her out of the house and into the sun on a daily basis. And that's when Alya had dragged Marinette to a pet shelter.

"You are not getting a store dog; either shelter or responsible breeder," Alya had insisted.

Luckily for them, the shelter had no shortage of pups. Supposedly, there was a puppy mill they'd only recently shut down and the shelter was overflowing with little dogs.

Within moments, the girls were cooing over the dogs, and Marinette had wanted to take every last one of them home.

And then they had spotted Tikki.

"I want her," Marinette had cooed, looking at the ruby King Charles Spaniel that was just under a year old.

Next thing Marinette knew, she was at a pet store with Alya, puppy in her cart, as they picked out everything needed to turn her apartment into a puppy home. The last thing they did before leaving the store that day was stand in front of the tag-maker machine, scratching their heads as they bounced names for the puppy back and forth. Marinette had been the one that came up with Tikki, and Alya had had no objections, hence the puppy's new moniker.

Alya had been kind enough to help carry all the dog items up to Marinette's apartment and help set up the place while Tikki explored her surroundings.

"Now," Alya had said, the girls sitting down as Tikki continued scurrying around the place. "Remember, the point of the dog is to get you to be responsible."

"I know," Marinette had told her. "She needs potty breaks and walks and food and all that. I will make sure that all happens."

And that was the day Marinette made use of her alarms.

The first week, Marinette had hated it to the point she almost regretted the decision. Because she had to learn to put down her work in the middle of a roll to take Tikki for a walk. No longer could she stay up late into the night because there was now an alarm to take Tikki out in the morning. Everything had shifted.

But so had Marinette's habits.

When Marinette had told her mom she got a puppy, her mother had been hesitant about Marinette adding something that required a lot of responsibility into her busy life. But now, Sabine loved Tikki.

"She makes sure you have an actual sleep schedule, as well as reminders to eat three meals a day and get out into the sunshine on a daily basis."

"And the rain," Marinette had groaned. "But I know what you're getting at. She forced me to regulate myself and now stands as your replacement of making sure I take care of myself."

"I'm just glad you're doing well."

Marinette had to admit that while it probably wasn't the best way or reason to adopt a dog, the forced regularity made Marinette learn all about the concept of time management.

After an hour-long walk—it was really nice out—Marinette turned her attention back to the dress and did her best not to stab herself with the seam-ripper again.

She failed, but she tried.

* * *

Since dating Ladybug, Adrien had grown a bit attached to his phone so he could answer her on a dime. Maybe not the best addiction, but he couldn't care less. He loved this woman more than he ever thought possible.

Nino teased him, saying it was the puppy love phase, but Adrien didn't fully believe that.

However, that addiction to his phone did allow him to answer her on a dime when she had an emergency, such as a text saying "_Help me! Do you have any suggestions for getting cloth dye out of grout?"_

The following picture was of white tile… and very red grout.

He cringed. _"Bleach or re-grout," _he texted back, already pulling up google to run a search.

_"Help?"_ She texted back.

He chuckled. "_Give me a moment to consult google, then I'll run some errands and pick up anything that might help, okay?"_

_"Okay."_

_"What were you doing with dye?"_

_"Usually, I'm way more careful than this but I don't know what happened and I was dyeing the ugly valentines dress to kill the hearts and I can't believe I spilled and my landlord is going to kill meeee."_

_"Marinette. Breathe."_

_"Not possible at the moment."_

His smile was tight. He better get over there to help his clumsy bugaboo asap.


	10. OblivioCarboard Noir

Marinette knew Adrien had a kitty.

She did not expect said kitty to be larger than her dog.

"Ignore the lazy brat," he said. "He's a pain in the rear and climbed up on the table to eat the cheese on my breakfast this morning, and I currently don't like him."

Marinette giggled as she looked over his apartment for the first time. "Yes, the large cardboard castle over there really attests to your hatred."

Adrien chuckled. "You caught me. I spoil him more than I care to admit."

Plagg let out a lazy yowl from the top of his cardboard cat tree.

"Where's you even get that thing?" Marinette asked.

"The cat tree?"

"Yeah? I've never seen one that's cardboard. Or that big."

"I made it," Adrien answered. "Because, as you can tell, Mr. Fatty over there is a big cat."

"He is not fat."

"He _is_ fat. My vet has told me. I cannot get him to lose weight no matter how much a try. But even then, he is still a big cat. And so, the little cat trees that are sold in pet shops are too small for him, meaning I got creative. And by 'me', I mean me and my friend who was kind enough to help me build that thing. But Plagg loves it, and not that money is an issue, but it was cheaper to build that thing than to buy one he wouldn't like or fit in. Because the industry of selling cat trees is a racket."

Marinette giggled as she walked toward the cat tree said black cat was hunkered down on. "Hey, Monsieur Plagg. Are you a friendly kitty?"

"Careful, he might be a little nervous—"

But by then, Marinette was already cradling a purring cat in her arms.

"Around new people," Adrien weakly finished.

"Aww, you're just a snuggle kitty, aren't you?" Marinette cooed as she squeezed Plagg tighter, his purrs revving like a chain saw.

"How?" Adrien asked, staring at Marinette and his cat. "Just… how?"

"Ladybug magic," Marinette returned with a wink.

Adrien huffed a laugh, quickly turning away and rubbing the back of his neck like he always did when he was nervous.

"So," Marinette said, returning Plagg to his cardboard tower, only for the cat to immediately hide in one of the box cubbies. "what's the plan for tonight?"

"I planned for dinner and a movie."

"I like that plan."

And so, after eating the dinner Adrien had prepared and Marinette being pleasantly surprised by his cooking skills, they spent the rest of the night curled up on his couch and watching a movie.

Plagg joined them, but Marinette thought that it was less because he cared about them and more because he liked the blanket Marinette had draped over her shoulders.

When the movie ended, Marinette knew she had to leave but was severely reluctant to get up off the couch. Adrien's arm was around her, and she was plenty cozy curled up against his side.

"You know," she said. "I still can't get over that we've been dating for two months now."

Adrien grinned. "I can't either. Before we ever crossed paths, all I could think of was how lucky I would be if I ever got to meet 'Ladybug'. And now, I get to see her, or at least talk with her, on a daily basis. It kinda blows my mind that I get to be with someone as absolutely incredible and talented as you."

"Well, what about me?" she said. "I get to date _the_ Adrien Agreste. Not to mention the man who gave me the pep-talk that led to me becoming Ladybug in the first place. Do you know how crazy that is?"

"It's pretty crazy," Adrien admitted. "But honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way."

When their noses bumped into each other, Marinette realized just how close they were and pulled away mostly because it startled her. But Adrien didn't seem discouraged. "My lady," he asked on a whisper. "May I kiss you?"

Her heart was revving wildly and her mind was shutting down and everything around her was disappearing. "You may."

It was her first kiss, and it was one she wouldn't forget any time soon.

Not the one after that.

Or after that.

* * *

_A/N: I'd like to think I'm not cheating with this one because what happens in Oblivio other than a kiss? XD_


	11. Innocent

Adrien was in trouble up to his ears, and he shockingly didn't care.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" his father hissed.

"What do you mean?" Adrien asked, playing innocent.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes at his son. "You know full well what I mean."

Deciding not to push his father any further, Adrien relented. "I don't understand why you're so furious about it."

"While I don't understand why you enjoy watching this woman in the first place, I can let it slide. What I fully cannot comprehend is why you must insist on starring alongside this 'Ladybug' in her own videos, or why she's in your social media feed."

"Because I enjoy spending time with her."

"She mocks you and this company. How can you enjoy spending time with her?"

"She does not mock the company—"

"She has, and furthermore, she has under your encouragement," his father interrupted.

Adrien sighed. "Are you still mad about the video we filmed in your store."

"How could you possibly slander the Agreste name in such a way?"

"We actually saw a slight spike in sales after that video went viral—"

"By making a mockery of our brand."

Adrien sighed.

"And you looked absolutely absurd," Gabriel continued. "Dressed up in items that should never have been pared together—"

"That was kind of the point of the video."

"In what universe is looking like an idiot 'good marketing'?"

"I didn't look like an idiot—"

"I beg to differ—"

"It was all in good fun," Adrien continued.

"It was an insult to this brand, as well as the fashion world and all the people who inhabit this world who worked hard to get to the positions they are in now."

Adrien was silent.

Gabriel fell silent, as well.

"Are you expecting an apology?" Adrien asked. "Because I'm not going to give you one."

"Why ever not?"

"Because I'm innocent, here."

"In what way are you innocent?"

"I'm making videos that introduce 'Adrien Agreste' to a market past our own and people are enjoying that content."

"There are better ways to market to people."

"In ways we aren't currently doing? Oh, how so?"

Again, both Agreste men were silent.

"Get out of my office."

"Fine by me," Adrien said, standing from his seat.

"At least you aren't dating the woman," Gabriel grumbled.

Adrien smirked. Oh, how clueless his father was. "Actually…"

After a second, Gabriel looked up at his son.

"But," Adrien said, smirking all the while he backed up toward the door. "You told me to get out of your office. Bye, now."

"Adrien, get back—"

The shutting of the sound-proof door cut him off.

"Adrien," Nathalie said, from her desk space right outside his father's office. "Be reasonable and get along with your father."

Adrien scoffed. "When he wants to meet me half-way, I'll be happy to. I'd even consider meeting him a couple steps beyond half-way. But, if he's going to insist I walk all the way over to his side, miles away from me, then he can keep dreaming. Good day, Nathalie."

With that, Adrien marched out of the office and to his car, more than anxious to get home and call his lovely Ladybug.


	12. Future

_A/N:Someone realized that she posted this everywhere else except she forgot to upload it here *smacks forehead* oops._

"I'm sorry I got you in trouble."

Adrien glared at her before throwing popcorn at her head.

"Hey!" she squealed. "What was that for?"

"Being ridiculous," Adrien answered. "Honestly, don't be upset about it. I know what I'm getting into here."

Marinette didn't look convinced.

Adrien sighed before shifting his arm tightly around her shoulders. "Marinette," he said, putting his bucket of popcorn on the table and forgetting all about the movie playing in the background. "Don't worry about it. I know what I'm doing. I know he's upset, but I'm twenty-four years old. What is he going to do? Ground me?"

"He could fire you," Marinette warned, shifting in his lap so she could see him without straining her neck. "What about then? Think about the future, Adrien. You can't just do what you please without consequences."

Adrien was forced to pause because she was right. His father would probably fire him without batting an eye. "Honestly," he said, slowly processing that fact. "I think I'd be okay with that."

Marinette frowned. "Don't you want to work for your family company?"

He shrugged. "Actually, I got into that job just because my father gave it to me. I don't mind it, but I wouldn't be too torn up if I lost it."

Marinette's brow furrowed, but she didn't press.

"Speaking of the future," he said, happily changing the subject, "what does my precious Ladybug want for the future?"

She gave him a look that said she knew what he was doing. He shouldn't be surprised; she was sharp. "I still want to be Ladybug," she answered anyway. "It's become such an important part of me, now, and not just because of the fame, but because… I feel like such a fashion authority and people respect me and enjoy my content and I feel like I can make people happy. I can give them advice and tips to feel confident in themselves when I myself wasn't always this confident. I want to keep being Ladybug for all those reasons."

Adrien smiled, the passion in her voice one of the best things about her. "Yes, but do you have any plans beyond being Ladybug?"

She paused, lips pursing in thought. "I mean, I want to get married one day," she said. "And have kids. Be a mom."

"Yeah?" he pressed, suddenly wanting to know if it was possible that she could see him in the role of husband and father. They may not have been dating long—just over three months, now—but Adrien just knew she was it for him.

"Yeah," she said. "Have you thought about what you want for the future?"

_To marry you and have kids and build a life I can finally be proud of. _"As you probably can tell, my family is pretty broken. I'd like to have one that wasn't."

She shot him a sweet smile that caused his heart to thunder in his chest. "Is that all? Do you want to work for your father forever? Or do you want to do something else?"

He paused. "I… honestly, I never really thought about it because everything was always laid out for me. I've never had to fight or _trailblaze,_ as you call it."

"You called it that first."

"I suppose I did, didn't I?" he said with a chuckle. "I honestly don't really know what I'd like to do if not working for my dad's company. I've thought about it when I was a teenager, but never really thought anything would come to pass."

"So why don't you start thinking about it?" she said. "While you're still young and can do anything."

Adrien looked at her with a smile. "Look at you, giving pep-talks, now."

Her eyes sparkled with amusement. "Just returning the favor."

He chuckled. "I'm not going to be the next big star. I've already done my time."

"You don't have to be. You can do whatever. You can… I don't know, teach fencing. You'd actually make a great teacher. You could go back to school for a degree in a field that interests you. You've mentioned you were really good in sciences. You could do something in that vein. What do you want to do?"

He pursed his lips. "Honestly… that's a really good question."

She slipped a hand over his heart, and he wondered if she could feel his heart wanting to pound right out of his chest. "Just think about it, okay? You don't have to chose now, but just consider it. You shouldn't have to work for your dad's company if you don't want to."

"I'll keep that in mind, bugaboo. Because…" He paused, wondering if he was brave enough to admit it.

And the look she gave him, tilting her head and patiently waiting for him to continue, he somehow found the courage. "Because whatever I do… it has to leave me available to work around your schedule."

A blush stained her cheeks. "You do know you shouldn't make your life revolve around me, right?"

"I would like it to, one day."

Soon enough, they were both blushing.

"I know what we have is still… not quite new but not quite established yet," he said. "But… I just want you to know that… that I lo-like being in a relationship with you. A lot. And… I'd like to keep being in this relationship with you for… the foreseeable future."

There was a silence that stretched on, broken by an amused snort from Marinette. "I'm sorry," she said. "I just… That was really kinda dorky."

His smile was strained. "It was, wasn't it?"

Her laughter only bubbled up more.

While Adrien currently felt like all he wanted to do was bang his head into the wall, he supposed looking like a dork was okay as long as he got to hear that laugh of hers for a long time to come.


	13. Meeting Gabriel

Adrien knew it was going to be the most uncomfortably awkward situation ever. And he was pretty sure Marinette would agree.

"I cannot believe you are allowing me to be your date tonight."

"You are my girlfriend," Adrien said, unable to take his eyes off the road to look at her. "I don't see what's so wrong about it."

"Because I kinda pissed off every last person in attendance the last time I was invited to a party."

"And you did it with style."

That started the duo off on a giggle fit. "Well, I am a lady," Marinette said. "But on another note, I just have to wonder… was it really a good idea to bring me as your date to your father's company's anniversary celebration?"

Adrien had to wonder the same thing. He'd mulled it over many times. In the end, he decided that for better or worse, he would bring along Marinette. She was his girlfriend, and he honestly believed his future was with her, too. Whether his father liked it or not, Marinette was a big part of Adrien's life. He could survive having her at his party for the night.

Except, he was beyond not happy when she appeared.

"Did you _have_ to bring her?" his father hissed when Marinette was too far away to hear.

"What's wrong with it?" Adrien hissed back.

"She personally offended everyone at the last party she was invited to."

"Because she was being harassed."

"Furthermore, she made a mockery of Audrey Bourgeois in one of her videos. I'm utterly appalled you had a part in it, too."

"Audrey made a mockery of herself for picking that dress."

"It was trending."

"The only reason it's trending is because Ladybug made a comment of how ugly it was. And frankly, I can't say she was wrong."

His father glared at him.

Adrien could only glare back. "Now, if you'll excuse me, my girlfriend is chatting with a few of your investors."

To say Gabriel looked displeased was an understatement. Yet, he followed Adrien over to where Marinette was conversing with a couple investors. The wife was cooing over Marinette's dress.

"Thank you very much," Marinette said, patting the slim skirt of her red dress, one decorated with black and white rhinestones. Once again, she looked every bit her namesake.

"You have quite the talent," the woman said. "You could have been a top designer with work like that."

"I wanted to be," Marinette said. "When I was a teenager, my dream job was to work for Gabriel's. His designs were always so inspiring to me. I actually liked that he stayed away from the couture end and really focused on the practicality of fashion. That always appealed to me. I mean, high fashion is well and good, but I wanted people to be able to wear my designs on the daily."

Adrien grinned as Marinette continued talking with the woman. He glanced at his father who had succeeded in wiping every ounce of disdain off his face. Adrien could almost see the gears in his father's mind turning, probably wondering just what Marinette was trying to pull by talking up his company and designs. But Adrien knew Marinette wasn't pulling anything and would happily defend her against his father again and again and again if need be.

"Don't believe this one," another woman's voice said from behind Adrien. He turned—

Only to see the scowling face of Audrey Bourgeois.

"Remember that I was telling you about the woman who bashed my style sense? _Me_?" she continued, addressing the investors. "How she even got invited to this party is beyond me."

By now, everyone within earshot had turned to watch the commotion, and Adrien suddenly felt like this night was going to end rather quickly.

Marinette wasn't intimidated by the intense attention, nor did she back down from the older, more established fashionista. "I critiqued your chosen design just like any fashion designer would do."

"You openly mocked my design, and now, I am the laughing stock of the internet."

"I simply gave my opinion, and if people happen to agree with it, then I do not see what I did wrong."

Adrien glanced out of the corner of his eye toward his father to gage his reaction to all this. His expression was blank, but Adrien knew that he would do nothing to stop the two quarreling women. Even at the risk of letting it mar this event.

"Just who gave you the authority to judge you, anyway," Audrey challenged.

"Well, I did work under you once, so you decided I could."

A murmur rose through the crowd, highlighting just how quiet it had been before hand. Audrey herself looked like a gaping fish. "I beg your pardon?"

Marinette gave a sweet smile and a nod, but Adrien could see the fire in Marinette's blue eyes and immediately patted his pocket for his car keys because they weren't going to be here much longer. "For a few weeks when I was younger."

"I'm not surprised you're no longer working for me nor that I don't remember you," Audrey dismissed with a wave of her hand. "I hire so many people who can't take the industry."

Marinette hummed, that fire in her eyes not going away. "Nor can you, apparently. After all, you were the one that fired me saying I was too nice for the industry. So next time you take on a protégé, Audrey, don't give her advice that could backfire on you."

* * *

"I'm sorry," Marinette said, head in her hands as she sat in the passenger's seat of Adrien's car. "I totally ruined the night."

Adrien chuckled. "You sure pissed her off, and my father, too. I can't remember the last time his face was that red."

"I know," she moaned. "At his company's party."

"I cannot be the only person in that room who thought that you handing Audrey her pompous, entitled rear to her on a golden platter was fricking hilarious," Adrien said, clearly trying to make her feel better.

"Maybe, but that doesn't help the fact I got us kicked out."

"You didn't get us 'kicked out', we just thought it was a good time to take our leave."

"I got us kicked out of a Gabriel event."

With a laugh, Adrien reached over to Marinette's knee. "Stop that. You're making it way bigger of a deal than it needs to be."

"How is me getting Adrien Agreste kicked out of his dad's event _not_ a big deal?"

"I've been trying to do it for years, so you just accomplished the one thing I never could."

Marinette was _not_ amused. "This is serious."

"No, it's not," he dismissed, patting her knee. "Really, don't worry about it. That's not a world that I really enjoy being in for any length of time, and it's not one you fit into, either. So, forcing ourselves to stay is overrated, right?"

She groaned in response.

"Marinette," he said, pulling her hands away from her face. It was a red light, so he was able to do that. "Stop worrying about it."

She sighed, trying to release the tension in her shoulders. "I just don't want you to get in trouble with anyone or give you a bad reputation."

His smile softened, and he pulled her hands to his lips to kiss them. "Don't even worry about that," he said. "Honestly, I'd rather get banned from parties and watch you clap back at people trying to tear you down rather than just let people walk on you and be invited everywhere. You're making a huge splash in the industry, and it's upsetting to them, but I find it hilarious because I guarantee you that they couldn't do what you do. They don't connect to the audience you have. You're just as talented as any one of them, just in a different way. Don't worry about anything."

With that, he turned back to the wheel just as the light turned green.

Marinette felt her heart pounding in her chest. Heat filled her cheeks as she turned away to look out the window. She'd ask if he was serious, but she knew that tone in his voice; he wasn't lying. And the fact that he actually, honestly meant it when he said he'd rather be kicked out than be invited to those parties again?

She didn't deserve him. That was for sure.

Too bad she was too selfish to let him go.


	14. Pictures

Marinette looked over at Adrien's expression, giggling at the shock on his face.

"Wow," he said.

"Yup," she agreed. "I do one video like this every week, and then, as you know, I do a whole outfit per video. I do all the work in big batches and then wait until I have several outfits finished so I only have to set up the studio for a modelling set up once and do it all in one big batch.

"There's, like, three boxes of clothes here," he said.

"I know. That's, like, five weeks' worth of videos that I need to finish up."

Adrien nodded. "Okay. So I'm here to help you set up and be your photographer?"

Marinette nodded. "Usually, my friend Alya is the one to help me out here, but she's out of town, so…"

"So, boyfriend to the rescue?" he asked, a light blush dusting his cheeks.

She could feel a little warmth lingering on her own. "Please?"

He leaned over to wrap an arm around her. "Anything for you, bugaboo."

"Thank you, hot stuff."

Within moments, Marinette was showing Adrien where all the lighting and backdrops were and Adrien managed to put them in a good configuration without even being told.

"Okay," he said, taking the camera and checking the battery and memory card. Once that was done, he lifted the lens toward the empty back drop and started adjusting the settings.

"You're doing that manually?" she asked.

"I am," he said. "You get more control that way."

"Someone knows their way around a camera," Marinette said with a smirk.

"For someone who spent as much time in front of one as I did, I got curious as to just what the cameramen did and all, so I bought a camera and taught myself."

"I'll only be impressed once I see what your pictures look like."

"You might be surprised, bugaboo. I might take over Alya and become your full-time photographer."

Honestly, she'd like that far too much to admit. So, instead of responding, Marinette slipped behind the dressing screen to put on her first outfit, and when she returned, she immediately got to posing in front of the camera. Adrien fiddled with the camera a lot, clearly trying to get the best settings, but soon enough, he lowered the camera.

"Are we good?" she asked.

"A few more poses."

At which point, Adrien proceeded to pose her. Everything from the way her skirt fell to how her hair draped over her shoulder was posed.

"Picky, picky," she teased, not daring to move as he shifted her jacket.

"Just wanting you and the clothes to look perfect."

"As long as they look good enough, that's fine."

"Why settle for looking good when I want you to look beautiful."

She scoffed.

"Actually," he said, leaning in close. "You look beautiful every day. I just want to show off nothing but your best."

Fire lit her cheeks, and that was the second Adrien leaned away and snapped a photo.

She whipped her head around to look at him, only for the flash to go off again.

He was chuckling. "Those are mine," he said.

"You're ridiculous," she managed, that fire expanding from her cheeks down her neck.

He shot her a wink, and suddenly, she didn't know how she was going to make it through the day.

Thankfully, everything went fairly smoothly, following the pattern of her posing herself then him shouting orders for her to follow then lastly, him picky posing her.

"I'll probably not use these ones," she said as he fluffed her hair over her shoulders. "If they come off too forced."

"Good. Then they'll be all mine."

She snorted a laugh, that blush of hers coming back. "Someone is flirty today," she commented.

It was, finally, his turn to blush. "I'm… kinda enjoying myself," he said. "This is really fun."

"Are you saying you want to be my cameraman again?"

"Yes," he said. "I'd happily play camera man, especially if I can somehow make you go from good to model."

She scoffed, biting her lip to hold back the embarrassed smile. "Flirt."

Though he now sported pink cheeks, he shrugged and stole another picture of her.

Eventually, there was only one last item to do; the ugly valentine's dress.

She grinned. She couldn't wait for him to see this one. She'd worked hard to make it something she could be proud of, and she'd spilled dye all over her grout for this. Thank goodness for Adrien coming over and helping her remove as much as possible before they went to a hardware store together and had to ask for help because they had no idea what they were doing.

That day had ended with recolored grout and delivered pizza that they ate on her couch while curled up together. An amazing end to a crappy day.

She glanced at herself in the mirror, plenty proud of what had become of the dress. She'd ditched the ruffles on the neck, now making it one that barely rested on her shoulders. The skirt length was altered, the train cut so she now could stand in flats and not have it drag on the ground, and she tailored the fit of the bodice snug against her torso. Finally, she dyed it burgundy, getting rid of the mediocre heart pattern and turning it into a dress someone would actually be willing to pay two-seventy-five for.

When she stepped out from behind the screen, excited to see his reaction, she was not disappointed.

"Wow," Adrien said on a breath.

Marinette grinned. "What do you think?"

Adrien's jaw opened and shut several times before he settled on, "wow."

She giggled, though she could feel herself blush at his attention.

"Um…" he said, seemingly barely pulling himself together. "Pictures."

She made a show of nodding. "Are you able to finish the photoshoot?" she teased.

"I don't know. Fifty-fifty shot you kill me at this point."

The words rolled so easily off his tongue, she wondered if he realized what he'd just said. Because she did, and it was making her a blushing mess.

Eventually, Adrien was able to pull himself together enough to finish the photoshoot. But Marinette didn't want to be done yet.

She took the camera from Adrien, only to set it up on the tri-pod. She then searched in her camera bag for her camera remote.

"I did a couple of these photoshoots solo when I first started out," she mentioned. "But they're such a pain."

"Understandably," Adrien said. It seemed he was only capable of one or two words at the moment, but that was okay. Frankly, she didn't want him to be fully functioning. It would make the shots she had in mind more fun.

"Come here," she said, taking his hands and pulling him into the set with her. "I want pictures together."

He looked down at his outfit. "Had you said something, I would have dressed up."

"You look plenty handsome," she assured. After all, any girl's weakness is a guy with the sleeves of his button-down rolled up to his elbows, showing off very nicely toned arms.

"Not standing next to you all dressed up like that," he whined.

"Trust me," she said, wrapping her hands around the back of his neck and pulling him close. "I think you're perfect."

He smiled, and she clicked the button. He was shocked for a moment, but then broke into a laughing grin. She hit the button again.

"All right, miss photographer," he said, grin wide and eyes gleaming. "Get this."

He cupped her jaw, pulling her close against him, and pressing a firm kiss to her lips.

She barely remembered to snag a picture before losing herself in the bliss of him.


	15. Dinner

It was the first time he got to meet his girlfriend's parents. They had been dating for four months now, and Adrien was kinda excited. This felt like an honor. In Adrien's mind, it was one of those things you did when you were serious about the person you were seeing.

He'd been assured by Marinette that her parents were amazing and that they'd love him and that he really had nothing to worry about.

"Except for that they might tackle you in hugs and overfeed you," she amended.

He chuckled. "I think I can handle that."

That was, of course, before he saw the size of her father.

"Welcome, son!" the man said, slinging a huge arm over Adrien's shoulders. "So nice to finally meet my little girl's boyfriend."

"Papa," Marinette whined.

Adrien smiled politely but made no move to try to escape M Dupain's grip. "It's nice to meet you, too, sir."

"Please, call me Tom. You're gonna be family soon enough, right."

"Papa!"

* * *

It didn't get better throughout the night. Adrien learned M Dup—er, _Tom_ took the opposite stance of the overprotective 'no you cannot date my daughter' dad. That wasn't to say he wasn't protective of Marinette, because he very clearly was as well as obviously adored his daughter to bits. But…

"What do you do for a living, Adrien? Is it a stable job? Can it support my daughter and any grandbabies?"

Tom was very interested in seeing Marinette's future come, well, yesterday.

And if Adrien thought _he _was embarrassed, one look at Marinette proved she was mortified.

At least Sabine was doing everything she could to temper Tom's enthusiasm, or otherwise, this dinner might be even more awkward.

It was still better than dinner with his father. The worst thing here were some of Tom's insinuations. However, it was bad enough that when Adrien got a phone call in the middle of dinner, he was more than anxious to take it even though he didn't recognize the number.

He politely excused himself from the room before answering the call. "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Adrien Agreste?"

"This is. Who's speaking."

"Diane Wesson, one of your father's investors. I'm actually calling you on behalf of Ladybug…"

* * *

"Dad!" Marinette growled the moment Adrien shut the door behind him.

"What?" he asked, looking rather confused.

"Tom," Maman spoke up.

"_What_?" he whined, clearly confused that the two women in the household were ganging up on him.

Honestly, Marinette couldn't really care. "Knock it off. You're going to scare him off!"

"If I scare him off, he's not worthy of my little girl," he insisted.

"Yeah, but really? Do you have to be so intense about getting married and jobs and _grandkids_?"

"But shouldn't he want that, too?"

"Tom," Sabine said. "I think what Marinette is asking is that she wants you to stop thinking so far ahead in the future."

"Why not?" her papa asked, turning to look at Marinette. "You want those things someday, don't you? And if he doesn't want that, he doesn't deserve to be dating you. You two have been dating for four months. I knew right away I wanted to marry your mom."

Marinette sighed. "Can we just take it slow and not rush things? And could you not insinuate things he might not be ready for?"

Her papa looked very put out by this. "I just want you to be happy."

Before Marinette could answer, Adrien came back in. "Marinette," he said. "I actually have someone on the phone you'll want to take a moment to talk to."

Marinette quirked a brow.

"I know we're in the middle of dinner," he admitted. "And I told the lady on the other end of the line, but you'll want to talk for a moment, at least."

With a nod, Marinette took the phone from him and walked from the room. "Hello?"

* * *

Adrien watched Marinette head out of the room, confusion on her face. She was going to be positively ecstatic when she learned what Mme Wesson wanted.

"Tom," Sabine spoke up, elbowing her husband. "Didn't you have something you wanted to say to Adrien?"

There was a look that passed between them before Tom sighed. "Adrien, I'm sorry if I've made you… uncomfortable tonight."

Adrien was surprised but didn't say a word.

"I… just want my little girl to be happy. You'll understand when you're a parent."

"Tom!" Sabine hissed.

But Adrien only smiled. "I… I kinda already do. You really love her; I can tell. And with as often as she talked about you two, I know she loves you two more than anything. You are a really close family. And I'm honored you want me to be part of it.

"Just like you, I want the best for Marinette, which means I want to be my best for her. Don't worry. Your daughter is in good hands. I'll prove it to you."

Sabine reached across the table to rest a hand on Adrien's. "We can already tell she is," she said with a grin. "She talks often about you and how happy she is with you."

Adrien grinned. "Well, I'm glad I'm someone she can be proud of. But, Tom, to be honest—since you were talking about the future and all—I do see a future for Marinette and I. One where we get married and have kids and all that. One day, that will happen. But, um…" He rubbed the back of his neck. "Today is not that day."

Tom looked nothing short of ecstatic by the revelation before he broke out in a happy laughter. "I knew I liked you, son!" he cried, reaching over to slap Adrien's shoulder.

Adrien grinned, but it was a bit strained by the sting said over-enthusiastic slap left on his shoulder.

By that time, Marinette returned to the room looking completely shocked.

Sabine frowned. "What is it?"

"That," she began, her voice a bit unsteady. "That was an investor. She… We met at an event Adrien's father was hosting for his company. You know, the one I got kicked out of—"

"We did not get kicked out."

"We did; don't you deny it. You can say 'oh, we just left early' but I know we got kicked out. Anyway, well… she remembered me and really liked me, and after doing a little research online, she wants…"

Marinette swallowed as a huge grin split her face. "She wants me to start up my own online clothing company!"

Sabine's jaw dropped while Tom cheered. "That's my girl!"

"She has all the suppliers and everything!" Marinette continued. "She knew I had contracts with a few department stores, but she wants more than just a couple lines. She wants me to have clothes and accessories and merchandise and _not_ be beholden to a certain store. She wants to invest in my own company!"

Marinette was bouncing on her toes, but Adrien just couldn't resist swooping her up into his arms, spinning her in the air. "Congratulations, Marinette!"

"I can't believe it!" she squealed over and over again as she clung to him. "She wants to invest in my company."

Dinner was quite an event the rest of the night, everyone raising a glass to yet another one of Marinette's accomplishments.


	16. Blush

It was official. They were trending on social media.

If she were being honest, the fact that it took four months for it to happen kinda shocked her. They weren't exactly being subtle about their relationship; they just weren't posting it on social media. But apparently, someone had caught a picture of her and Adrien on a date last night, meaning that now, the headline "Adrien Agreste dating social media star, Ladybug" was everywhere.

But that wasn't the best part.

"Did you see they gave us a ship name?"

She could hear Adrien chuckle on the other end of the phone. "I did. We have two, actually. Seems people can't decide which one to go with."

Marinette felt like her face was permanently on fire at this point. "It's quite the hashtag war."

"Adribug isn't bad, but I kinda like Ladrien better."

"I do, too," she said, thinking of something she could put that shipname on. It was really cute.

"So, how do you suggest we weigh in on the shipname war?" Adrien teased. "Because it's our responsibility to choose a victor."

Marinette giggled. "Is it really?"

"It absolutely is. This is our shipname on the line. It's very important."

Marinette bit her lip, partly in thought, and partly to keep her giggles at bay. "How about this…"

* * *

With Adrien out shopping to pick up the few items they needed, Marinette was creating the design on her computer. She had a couple designs and was debating between the two of them by the time Adrien arrived.

She rushed to the door, almost overeager to see him. It was becoming a terrible habit, to be so addicted to his presence that she craved it. She threw open the door and threw her arms around him.

He swooped her up, bags of thing bouncing against her backside. "Hey, you," Adrien said with a chuckle. "Someone's happy."

Marinette giggled as she slid out of his hold. "Sorry."

"Don't be," Adrien assured. "I…" He paused, turning away with a blush. "It's not like I don't like your attention."

Marinette felt her own cheeks warm. "Well, I always love seeing you."

That caused Adrien's blush to deepen, something that gave her a sense of pride. _I did that,_ she'd always think. _Me._ It caused her heart to race even more.

She loved this man. She hadn't told him yet, but she did. "I, uh, have a couple designs," she said, breaking the silence. "Let me show you."

"Should we throw the shirts in the wash first?"

Yes. Yes, they should. "Good call."

After throwing the shirts Marinette had asked Adrien to buy in the washing machine, she showed him the two designs she was debating between.

"I like the first."

"Really?"

"The font is nicer, and you can see the ladybug print better."

Marinette nodded. "Okay. First one it is."

Adrien grinned. "This is a fantastic idea, by the way."

"I'm glad you think so," Marinette said. "I know it's kinda silly, but it's fun, and it will be fun to see the response on social media."

"Honestly," Adrien said. "The thought of owning a t-shirt with our shipname in big, bold letters makes me happy."

Marinette got a twisted feeling in her gut. "You're going to wear that around everywhere, aren't you?"

"Isn't that the point?" he asked. "To profess my love for my girlfriend everywhere I go?"

It took exactly one second for the entire atmosphere in the room to change. Because even though they were a very solid couple, neither had dropped the 'L' word.

Until now.

Adrien was red, and Marinette was sure she was, too.

_Say it now, coward._ She mentally screamed. "Adrien—"

"Because I love you."

He beat her to the chase.

"A lot," he said, his blush growing deeper. "I really love you and see you as the only girl for me."

Her heart was positively racing, yet her mouth didn't want to give a response. She worked her jaw, but when nothing came out, she simply threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly. "I love you, too," she eventually managed. "I love you."

He stiffened, but soon enough, his arms were tight around her, squeezing her against his chest while his face was pressed into her hair. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

* * *

The day was spent fairly lazily, after that. They were snuggled together on the couch, a movie playing in the background, until the clothes in the wash were done. She took a moment to throw the two white t-shirts Adrien got specifically for this project into the dryer on a low setting just so they could finish the project asap, and then Marinette hung the rest of the shirts she had thrown in the wash just for the sake of getting laundry done.

While they were waiting, they figured out how to use the iron-on transfer sheets that Adrien had picked up. After both of them reading the instructions, they stuck the sheets in Marinette's printer and printed the design that said "#Ladrien" in bold letters with a ladybug print coloring the "#Lad" while there was a dark green for the "rein." Marinette had admitted with a blush the green was for his eyes.

After that was completed and all they had to do was wait for the shirts, Marinette decided it would be good to make lunch.

Adrien insisted on assisting, and lunch was made in no time. After they finished eating and cleaned up the kitchen, they set up Marinette's photoshoot equipment. By the time that was done, the shirts were dry.

Marinette read the instructions one more time before ironing on the design. She did not want to mess this up. Thankfully, when she peeled away the backing paper to reveal the final design, she couldn't be happier.

"Not my usual process of making logos for t-shirts," she commented, "but it turned out nice in a pinch."

Adrien grinned, taking his t-shirt. "And now, to take a picture?"

"Or, like, ten."

Adrien only grinned.

They took more than ten, but they enjoyed themselves doing it. She chose one to put up on her social media, one with both her and Adrien clearly wearing matching "#Ladrien" shirts. Adrien chose a different one, one where half of each shirt was visible but they were very clearly acting like a couple.

But Marinette's favorite, the one what became her new phone screensaver, was the one where Adrien had leaned over and surprised her with a cheek kiss.

She would have chosen their actual kiss that had taken place seconds after, but honestly, that photo came out a bit too steamy for her to want anyone else to accidentally see it.


	17. Aspik (Adrien with the snake Miraculous)

"How are you so good at this?" Adrien cried, watching his video game character die once again.

"My dad taught me _everything,_" Marinette replied slyly. "You know what the first rule of this game is?"

"What?" Adrien deadpanned.

"Don't pick Aspik."

"But Aspik is a good character with good abilities—"

"His stats are unbalanced, and his power is mediocre at best."

"No, it is not. I've won countless games with him. He's a strong character. You're just OP as Ladybug."

"What's wrong with Ladybug?"

"She's OP."

"Is not!"

"Is so!"

Marinette scoffed. "Get over it. She is not. You're just pissed I'm kicking your butt."

He was, but that wasn't the point.

"Have you thought about what you're going to do with your workload?" he asked, recalling the whole reason he came over in the first place.

Marinette nodded. "I'll have to hire someone. That's the only way I can think of that will free me up enough to start designing a line. They can help me with all the photoshoots and camera work, and I can pawn all the video editing off on them. Even then, I might have to go down to two videos a week. Which will be a bummer, but oh well."

"How you do what you do in the first place is impressive," Adrien said. "No one in their right mind could crank out videos at the rate you do."

"Which is why this is likely _way_ overdue that I hire someone to take over my stuff so I actually have some more free time."

"That would be really good for you," Adrien said.

"I know," Marinette said. "Now, I just have the task of finding someone good and who I trust to take that over."

"Can you ask any of your friends?"

She shook her head. "No. The ones I could ask to do this are people who don't have time, and the ones who do have time wouldn't know how to do this."

"Puts a bit of a damper on things."

Marinette nodded. "So, I'll have to put up an ad and have interviews and _ugh._" She flopped over against his side, her head pressed against his shoulder. "I don't wanna."

Adrien chuckled. "This is why you've been putting it off."

"Yeah," she whined.

Adrien paused. "Tell you what, what if I were the one to help you with the whole interview process? Setting up the ad and scanning resumes?"

Her head popped up, her eyes wide with hope. "Would you?"

Adrien grinned. "Yeah, I totally would if it would help you."

"You're amazing!" she said, wrapping her arms around his waist. "That would be awesome."

With a chuckle, he draped his arm around her shoulders, holding her there close to him. "You're welcome."

* * *

When he got home that evening, after a couple hours of gaming as well as having dinner with Marinette, Adrien checked his phone. He had turned it off for the evening, mostly because he hated being interrupted during his time with Marinette. The other reason was so that he would have a legitimate excuse to have not taken his father's calls.

Which there had apparently been six of.

With a sigh, Adrien collapsed onto his couch before resigning himself to listening to the messages. All of which were versions of "call me back when you get the chance."

But honestly, Adrien didn't want to. He knew that, despite the time, his father was likely still up, but Adrien wasn't up to talking with him tonight. He'd call him early tomorrow.

Suddenly, the thought of Marinette asking him what he wanted for his future came to mind. It got him asking 'was this really what he wanted to do with his life?' Sure, it was his father's company, but was it really important to Adrien? Because the fact was that the moment Gabriel stopped designing was the moment 'Gabriel' stopped being 'Gabriel'. Gabriel would be a brand name, not a designer original. Not even Adrien could step up to take the plate.

Despite knowing that his father worked hard to build that company, did it matter enough to Adrien to take over the family business if the business was dependent upon his father? Did he really want to handle a business just because it was a steady job?

The answer to that question lead him to sit at his computer that night and search all about how to edit videos.

* * *

Marinette was surprised to get a call from Adrien so early in the morning. "Hey, you're calling early… and aren't you at your job?"

"I am," he said, "But I have some really important questions I need to ask you. And as much as I want to do them in person, I can't wait and want to do them now."

Marinette grinned. "Okay. Well, you know I love hearing from you, even more so when you're helping me procrastinate writing an ad for a job as a video editor."

"It's about that," Adrien said. "I have a proposition to make you."

Marinette's brow furrowed at his serious tone. "And that is?"

"Hire me as your manager-slash-assistant."

Instantly, Marinette froze. "W-what?"

"Hire me," he repeated. "And let me edit your videos and be your cameraman. But I also can help you with all your managerial stuff, because you running a website and a store is going to take a lot of your time, and I know how that stuff functions. If you're approached by more investors, I know how to handle them, too. I basically help manage a multi-billion-dollar company; I can help you run your store—"

"Adrien," Marinette cut in. "Are you serious?"

"I'm dead serious."

"Do you even have time for that?"

"No, which is why I'm asking you now to know if I need to quit my job or not."

It was like a bucket of ice water just got poured over her. "What?"

Adrien sighed at the other end of the line. "Do you remember when we were talking about the future and you asked me if I want to continue working for my dad's company?"

Her voice was so weak. "Yeah."

"The answer is no," he said. "No, I don't."

"But you're going from one management job to an assistant-manager, whatever-you-called-it."

Adrien paused. "Yes," he said. "But there's one big difference."

"And that is?"

"I actually _want_ to work for you," he said. "I _want_ to edit your videos and help you manage your store and do everything else you need from me."

"Adrien…" As tempting as the offer sounded, she was still hesitant. For what reason, she wasn't sure. "Are you really sure that's a good idea?"

"Well," he said. "It's the first time I'm deciding something for myself without being told what to do. Right or wrong, the fact is the choice is _mine_. And I'm going to go with it."

Marinette bit her lip. "I'm not going to stop you," she said. "Because honestly… the prospect of working with you sounds too good to pass up. But, I don't want you to take this lightly. Consider what you're wanting to do here. Your father isn't going to be happy."

"The freaking whipped cream and cherry on top of this sweet deal," he said. "The main dish consisting of me actually taking a job I would care about and getting to work with you on a near daily basis."

Marinette sighed. "Then I won't stop you," she said. "And I'll happily give you the job."

There was a chuckle on the other end of the line. "Then my first order of business today is writing up my two weeks."

She shouldn't be feeling as happy as she was, but honestly, she couldn't really care. "You know," she said just as the through popped into her head. "I won't be able to pay you as much—"

"Whatever," Adrien said, but the smile on his face was clear. "It's not about the money. I'm financially stable. No matter what you pay me, I'll be fine."

"Okay," she said. "As long as you're sure."

"I am," he said.

"I just don't want you to—"

"Marinette," Adrien cutting in. "You know that I'm a multi-millionaire, right? And that I have an extremely good handle on investing and business?"

Marinette paused. "Okay, point taken."

"Good. Then, with that settled, I'm going to let you go. I have a two-week's to write."

By the tone of his voice, Marinette could hear just how excited he was at that prospect.

"I love you."

"I love you, too," she returned. "Will I see you tonight?"

"I'll bring dinner and wine, and we'll celebrate."

A grin spread across her face just as a warmth filled her chest. "That sounds good. I'll see you tonight, love."


	18. Trust

Adrien knew this day was going to end one of two ways. This was going to end with his father taking the two-weeks-notice, being pissed, and vowing not to speak to Adrien for an undetermined amount of time. Or the more likely, Gabriel was going to fire him instead and disown him.

Either way, Adrien was going to walk out of the office with a smile on his face feeling like a free man.

Yet, not even Adrien, in all his excitement, could deny that he was a bit nervous.

He knocked on the door to his father's office.

Within seconds, his father opened the door, his usual stoic expression in place.

Adrien didn't say a word as he entered with a stack of papers. He sat down in the available seat in front of his father's desk. "I have the paperwork."

Gabriel took a seat in his own chair. "Before that," Gabriel said. "We need to talk."

Adrien froze. Those words were never good. "What about."

"Miss Ladybug."

Every muscle in his body grew rigid. "What about her?"

"Adrien, you are the face of this company," he began. "And as such, being seen with a rival such as herself who has done nothing but made a fool of herself in the fashion world is absolutely out of the question."

"Made a fool of herself?" Adrien repeated out of shock. "Are you _kidding_? When ever has Marinette made a fool of herself?"

"Shall we discuss the dinner gala incident where she insulted every single person—"

"Oh, are you still on that?"

"Or the incident when you brought her to _my_ company's event and she proceeded to speak poorly to Audrey Bourgeois?"

"Marinette was defending herself—"

"Or how about those videos of hers you star in?" Gabriel questioned. "How do you explain the mockery you make of the company every time you appear."

"When have I _ever_ mocked the company in a way that hurt it—"

"And lastly," Gabriel finished. "Shall we talk about the… hashtag 'Ladrien' social media outrage?"

Adrien's brow furrowed. "What the heck was wrong with that?"

"It's embarrassing."

To say he was flabbergasted may not be a strong enough statement, but that was the word that came to mind. "Are you _kidding_ me?"

"You are the face of this company. Act like it."

"Like _what_?" Adrien challenged, completely bemused. "How am I hurting this company?"

"No matter what you think, keeping her company is in poor taste."

It took a good while for Adrien's mind to function. "Well," he said. "How about I say this? Here's the paperwork you asked me for—" Adrien dropped nearly all the papers in front of Gabriel. "—And here's my two-week's."

Gabriel's eyes widened as Adrien slammed the last page on the top of the stack.

"I'm done." Adrien stood from his seat.

"What is the meaning of this?" his father demanded, picking up the notice and waving it at Adrien.

"It means that I'm tired of doing this job and I'm quitting."

"Quitting?"

"Yes," Adrien said, shooting a glare at his father.

Gabriel shot one right back. "Is this because of her?"

"So what if it is?"

A tense silence stretched between the two men in the room.

"Then," Gabriel said. "I would have no choice but to not trust you any longer at this company."

"You know what the worst part about that statement is?" Adrien snipped. "Is how absolutely unsurprised I am to hear you say it."

Gabriel's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Get out."

"With pleasure."

"Take everything," Gabriel warned as Adrien walked toward the door. "You won't be back tomorrow."

Even the minor amount of surprise was still more surprise than Adrien thought he should have at those words. "Understood."

"And don't ever think you'd have a spot here at this company again."

"Trust me, father," Adrien said, turning back to look at him. "Even if I needed it, I wouldn't want it."

With that, he marched out the door.

As he walked back to his office, Adrien felt like his chest hurt a little more than he thought it would. After all, that was his father, and even though Adrien had been expecting his father to disown him, it didn't make that sting any less painful.

* * *

That night, Adrien stood in front of his girlfriend's door with take-out in one hand and a bottle of wine in another. And when Marinette opened it, only to be dressed in that valentine's dress she made over, his heart soared.

"Hey," she said, smile on her face taking away that lingering sting he still felt. "Get in here and tell me everything."

Adrien smiled when she tugged him in by his tie, then reached around to shut the door behind him. "I quit," he said. "And as to be expected, my father was less than thrilled about it"

Marinette's expression fell. "I didn't cause any trouble between the two of you, did I?"

He gave her a sympathetic look. "I think you know the answer to that. And if you didn't, well, the fact he kicked me out immediately and basically told me never to come back is a pretty big indicator to the answer to your question."

"Oh, Adrien." She took his cheeks in her hands. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't you dare be," he warned, the lingering sting slowly ebbing because of her touch. "Because it wasn't your fault. My father was being completely unreasonable, and you know it. You're worth leaving that company for."

"Still," she said, wrapping her arms around him and snuggling up against his chest. "I'm sorry. I didn't want that to happen."

He shrugged. "Honestly, I feel like it was a long time in the making and would have happened eventually with or without you. You just accelerated the inevitable. Now," he said, raising up the food and wine. "I have goodies, I am in the presence of a downright gorgeous woman, and I just quit my job. I think it's time to celebrate."

Marinette's smile reappeared, though he could see the pain behind it. "Okay. If you're up for it, I'd like that plan."


	19. Love Letters

He'd only worked about two weeks as Marinette's assistant-slash-manager, and he already loved it. A non-stressful work environment, working with Marinette to do anything she needed, and starring beside her in videos. And of course, being with her a lot, but that was just a bonus.

Today, Marinette said she was going through fanmail, and Adrien knew from her fanmail videos that it was a task and a half.

But of course, a wrench was tossed into those plans. Yesterday, his apartment gave him notice that they were coming in to do an inspection check and fix the dripping sink in the bathroom. However, he knew from previous experience that when workers enter his apartment, they didn't shut the door and Plagg played escape artist. Adrien had spent a couple hours searching for his cat that day, only to yell at the office for not warning the workers to close the door once he _did_ find the cat.

That had not been a fun day.

So, Marinette had been the one to suggest bringing Plagg over. "Because if things keep going the way they are…"

She hadn't had to finish that sentence. He could hear the blush on her face and knew what she was implying. _Tikki and Plagg would be living together._

"Please behave," Adrien whispered to Plagg, who was less than thrilled being in the cat carrier.

He growled.

"And please don't do that," he warned the cat as he knocked on Marinette's apartment door.

When she opened it, he saw she had Tikki on a leash. "Hey, so, I think that since we're introducing Plagg into this environment, that Plagg kinda gets free roam of the house and I'll keep Tikki leashed. I don't think she'll mind if I'm holding her or anything like that. That way, since this is all new for Plagg, we don't stress him out by trapping him or confining him or anything."

"That's a good plan," he said, walking through the door.

He set Plagg's carrier down facing out into the open living room of the apartment while Marinette held Tikki at a distance on the leash. It was clear the spaniel wanted to go greet the new guest, but Marinette held her back.

"Do you want to open Plagg's carrier?"

Adrien unzipped the front, allowing Plagg the freedom to step out. Not that he did. Plagg's green eyes were wide and pupils narrow, focused on Tikki.

That was how the first part of the morning was spent, slowly introducing the two pets together. They didn't expect it to be perfect, but luckily for everyone, things went very smoothly. Plagg eventually stepped out of his carrier and started observing his surroundings, keeping an eye on Tikki all the while. Tikki whined and whimpered, wanting to go greet the cat, but Marinette didn't let her.

"You're a good girl, Tikki," she said over and over while Plagg made a tentative home for himself on the couch. Only then did Marinette let Tikki get closer.

Plagg's eyes widened, and he shifted, but he didn't move from his spot.

"Okay," Marinette said, picking up Tikki. "That's pretty good progress for the day. I can keep Tikki leashed by the table while we open up the fanmail."

Adrien glanced over at the pile that was way bigger than he expected.

"Yeah, it's small today," she said.

"You say your table overflowing with letters and packages is small?"

She hummed and nodded. "There are times it extends to the floor. But that's what happens when you only do this every other month."

He shook his head. "Well, we should get started."

Adrien managed the camera as Marinette opened the letters one by one, read them, thanked some people, and made comments to the camera about definitely including those, which Adrien wrote down and set aside those letters so he'd remember.

Throughout the process, Adrien was glancing over at Plagg, who had decided to jump off the couch and investigate Tikki.

"Sorry," Marinette whispered to the camera. "If I seem distracted, it is because Adrien is here behind the camera and his cat is visiting. And it's the first time Tikki and Adrien's cat, Plagg, are meeting."

She then motioned for Adrien to move the camera toward the animals. Tikki was at the end of her leash that Marinette had tied to the chair, her tail wagging up a storm and her ears perked forward with interest as Plagg slowly approached.

About three feet away, Plagg slowly sat down, staring down Tikki.

Tikki's excitement only grew.

They watched for a moment longer as Plagg ever so slowly lowered himself to the ground and curled his paws underneath his chest.

So far, so good.

"Okay," Marinette said, motioning for Adrien to move the camera back to her. "I think things are looking good. Keep an eye on them, Adrien."

He nodded. "You got it."

She continued opening up letters, Adrien continuing to keep an eye on the two pets having a stare off. Tikki threw out a whimper every once in a while because she wanted the cat, but Marinette would distract her with treats and encouragements.

Marinette got to the last letter, reading it out, only for Adrien to get jealous of each word. Marinette had gotten a few love letters before, but this one was as intense as could be without being obscene.

When she finished and looked toward the camera to give a response, Adrien got up, moving behind Marinette and draping his arms over her. "Sorry, dude," he told the camera. "She's mine."

Marinette giggled, reaching up to grab hold of his arms. "Uh-oh. Someone's jealous."

"I will protect the honor of my lady."

Marinette only giggled further.

"Should you challenge me to a duel, I'll have no choice but to defeat you."

"Adrien," Marinette said, her laughs loud and free. "Stop it."

He grumbled. "Fine." He squeezed her tight, pressed a kiss to her cheek, and then hid behind the camera again.

"Sorry, Theo," she said, referencing the letter. "I'm already a taken woman, but I'm flattered, anyway."

* * *

"Hey," Marinette said once the filming was finished and the camera was off. "You're not really jealous, are you?"

Adrien sighed. "No," he said, reaching out to grab her hips and pull her closer. "No, I know you're mine and that those are just fans. I know I don't have any reason to be jealous."

"But you are?"

"I was when I heard some of those love letters. Particularly, that last one."

Marinette gave him a soft, sweet smile. "I know you know this," she said, reaching up to cradle his cheeks in her hands. "But you know you never have to be jealous. You're the man I'm dating. I love _you._"

"I know," he assured, tugging her closer still. "I know. I love you."

Marinette stood on her tiptoes to kiss him, and Adrien eagerly responded. This was _his_ woman, after all. He had sole rights to do that.


	20. Soft Touches

It was a quiet night. Work had been finished early because Adrien was able to take on editing videos and balancing the business portion of her accounts, which opened her up quite a bit.

As well as took some of her least favorite things to do off her plate.

"I swear," she said as she was finishing up dinner for the two of them. "Hiring you was the best decision ever."

Adrien chuckled. "I'm glad I could be of service to my lady."

She blushed. She loved that nickname. "As much as it makes me realize how desperately I needed to have hired someone earlier," she began turning around to face him. "I'm glad I didn't. Because now I have you and you're doing more than just editing videos."

"Anything to take things of your plate so you have time to do all the other stuff you love doing."

"Yes," she said, draping her arms over his shoulders. He smiled as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "But do you know how much I _hate_ balancing accounts and anything that involves doing _math_?"

Adrien outright laughed at that. He squeezed her close. "Glad I could be so useful."

"You're a gift from heaven."

His laughter died down as his smile grew more earnest. "So are you to me."

Her heart was bursting at the seams as he leaned down to press a kiss to her lips. She happily responded, pressing her lips together once, twice before he regrettably pulled away.

"Don't burn the sauce."

Instantly, Marinette flipped back to the sauce that was still on the stovetop, bubbling away.

Thankfully, it was easily salvaged. And when the oven timer went off two minutes later, dinner was ready. They sat down at the table, sitting right next to each other instead of across from each other. But the reason for that was mostly so they could keep an eye on Tikki and Plagg.

Things had been going very smoothly between them. Plagg didn't seem to be bothered by Tikki anymore, and Tikki wasn't quite as excited and anxious around the cat.

But still, they wanted to keep an eye on the two in case a fight did happen to break out even though both Adrien and Marinette were convinced that wouldn't happen.

"I'm really happy that they get along so well," Marinette said, watching as Tikki flopped over, bumping against Plagg. Plagg didn't move besides his eyes cracking slightly open.

"Same," Adrien said, reaching under the table to rest a hand on her knee. "I'm so glad they get along well because I don't know what we'd do if they didn't."

"Well," she said. "There would only be one solution and it would suck."

"Which is why I'm so glad that it didn't come to that."

Eventually, they finished dinner, and Adrien took over in kitchen clean up. Marinette was on drying duty, taking the cleaned dishes from Adrien and putting them away.

When the kitchen was cleaned, they both knew they'd have to part soon, but Marinette wanted to prolong that as much as possible. "Do you want to watch a movie?" she suggested.

He smiled. "Yeah, I'd like that."

They picked something to play, Marinette popping it in the DVD player before sitting down on the couch beside Adrien.

Things only progressed from there. Adrien draped his arm over her shoulders. Marinette settled in against his side. Adrien's soft touches on her arm became too much, and she soon found herself in his lap. The moment their eyes locked, Marinette knew it was all over. She leaned forward to meet him half way and instantly melted at his touch. His hands came up to tenderly cradle the back of her head keeping her there as he moved his lips against hers. Her hands slipped up his chest, up his neck—getting a groan out of him—to his jaw, cradling it tenderly as she deepened their kiss.

He smiled against her lips.

Next thing she knew, his hands were wandering down her body. She moaned at his touch, shifting closer to him. Slowly, she felt herself being tipped backwards. She caught herself even though he had a hold of her as he carefully lowered her all the way back to the couch.

Their lips parted, only for him to press kisses against her cheeks and jaw.

"I love you," she whispered, fingers tangling in his hair.

"I love you," he whispered against her skin, sending tingles of pleasure through her body.

She was so lucky to have this man.

They slowed down before it got too steamy, not that Marinette would have minded. Adrien didn't move from his spot laying over top her, and she didn't particularly feel inclined to let him. Her arms were draped over his shoulders, and her head tilted so their noses would touch.

"So," Adrien whispered to her. "I've been thinking."

"About?"

"Why I haven't just asked you to marry me already."

She froze.

Adrien pushed himself to his elbows, shooting her a smile as he pulled something from his pants pocket.

A ruby ring appeared before her, and Marinette felt like she just might start crying.

"Because I know you're it for me," he said. "And I don't see any reason to keep dating you if I already know I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to make it official and permanent. So, Marinette, my lady, will you please become my wife?"

"Yes!" she squeaked out, not even having to think about it. "Yes."

He slid the ring onto her finger, and then laid a kiss on top of it.

Her heart was racing and Marinette knew the moment she blinked, she'd send tears down her cheeks.

At least Adrien was quick to wipe them away, laying kisses on her cheeks in the process.

She couldn't help but cling to him, tightly grasping his shirt and pressing her face into his neck. She was so happy she couldn't contain her excitement. Even though they'd only been dating just over eight months, it didn't feel like it. It somehow felt like they'd known each other forever and would forever be together. And now, at the knowledge they would be, Marinette felt like she could fly over the moon.

* * *

Parting that night was hard, but Adrien needed to take Plagg home. Even though the dog and cat duo got along swimmingly, Adrien had mentioned more than once that Plagg would hide in his cat tree the moment he got home and still would be there when he woke in the morning.

"I don't want to stress Plagg out too much since he doesn't have many escapes here from Tikki."

Marinette understood. She didn't want to overly stress out the cat, either. "I know. I get it."

"It's not like I won't be back in the morning."

"I know," Marinette said. "We have a lot to talk about."

He nodded. "We have a wedding to start planning, after all."

Marinette felt her lips split into an uncontrollable grin. "That we do."

With a smile of his own, he leaned forward to capture her lips in one last, long, lingering kiss good night before forcing himself away.

She watched him disappear from sight before shutting the door behind her. She flicked the lock shut and rested against the door for all of five seconds before proceeding to squeal and dance in happiness. "I'm getting married. I'm getting married. I'm getting _married!_"

It may have been nine at night, and Alya may be busy in her work, but Marinette couldn't help it. She needed someone to scream to.


	21. Secrets

"So," Marinette began. Adrien had come over for the day, and while they should be getting work done, the prospect of talking about the fact they were getting _married _was too tempting. "How do we want to plan this wedding?"

Adrien shrugged. "Honestly, I'm still caught up in the whole 'I'm marrying you' thing."

Marinette couldn't keep back her amused smile. "But you proposed."

A blush colored his cheeks. "I know I did, but do you know how long it took for me to get up the courage?"

"Did you think I'd say no?"

"Well… no," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "But the fear of that didn't make it any easier. And then finding just the right ring and right timing, only to throw it out the window on impulse…"

Marinette giggled. "I thought it was romantic."

Adrien's smile was shy. "I couldn't help it. I just… knew I wanted to stay with you forever and couldn't resist."

She reached over to hold his hands.

He gave her hands a squeeze. "As for the wedding, something small and simple would be nice. And private. It has to be a secret from the press and especially my father."

Marinette frowned. "You aren't even going to try?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't want him to catch any sort of idea that this is happening. If he does, I honestly wouldn't put it past him to pull something. It has to be kept as secret as possible."

Marinette's frown deepened. "Adrien—"

"It's fine," he dismissed. "Don't worry about it. Just… we can't let it on that we're getting married, okay?"

Though hesitant, she nodded. "Okay. Secret. Meaning that planning it quickly would be the best way to go about it."

Adrien nodded. "That sounds good."

"The cake won't be an issue; my parents will handle that. Alya's mom owns a catering business; she used to work at Le Grand Paris hotel but go fed up with her boss. I bet she'd be able to fit us in, and her cooking is fantastic."

"Nino would help with the music. He loves that kind of stuff. And he said he went to school with a couple girls who opened a flower shop. They're uber nice and would totally be willing to help."

"So, we're just going to need a photographer—"

"I have one that owe me a favor," Adrien cut in. "And he's good."

Marinette nodded. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised, M Former Model." She sent him a wink that did things to his heart. "Then we just need an officiant and a place to set up."

"And clothes." Adrien said. "You're going to want to design the dress, I know. So how about I handle my own tux so that takes all the pressure off of you for you to focus on your dress."

She smiled. "That would be helpful, yeah."

"Good. Um… what else are we missing? I feel like we're missing something."

"Oh! Wedding party," Marinette realized. "What if we forgo the bridesmaids and groomsmen? If Alya is my maid of honor and Nino is your best man, but we just leave it at that? Less people involved, less things we have to worry about."

Adrien mulled it over. "It would make it more convenient if you were okay with that."

"I am," she said. "It's just supposed to be about us, right? Alya and Nino will just be our witnesses, because Alya will _kill_ me if she's not the maid of honor. That way, we don't have to worry about the rest of the wedding party. They can all be there as guests, so less drama and no wedding party horror stories."

Adrien smiled. "Sounds good to me."

Marinette grinned. "Is that all? I mean, besides the figuring out the date of when we get married."

"Uhh…" Adrien began, a blush creeping up. "Living arrangements."

Marinette's cheeks flared.

"You're leasing your apartment?"

Marinette nodded. "Yeah. I am. I always planned for this to be a temporary space before finding a better, permanent option."

"I own mine," he said.

"So… it would make sense for me to move in to yours."

Adrien nodded. "Well… probably. For now, at least. Until… we find a place we want to settle down into together."

Marinette swallowed. "That sounds like a good plan," she said. "I guess I can find someone to sublet my lease—"

"How about," Adrien cut in, "instead of that, just keep the lease for now. If we know we want to find a space together, then we might be moving again in… who knows how long. Instead of having you try to cram all your office into my apartment and us pairing everything down now, let's just keep this as our office and work space and live at my apartment."

"That would make things less complicated," Marinette said.

Adrien nodded. "Okay. Then… good. That sounds good."

"Great." Marinette swore her cheeks still felt like they were on fire. But she supposed that was understandable. They were going to get _married_ and everything was changing.

Not that that was a bad thing. Not at all.

* * *

Thankfully, all their friends agreed to help them. Marinette and Adrien had realized that Alya and Nino, being the only two in the wedding party, had actually never met, meaning that they organized a lunch together to introduce the two.

"Alya's a piece of work," Nino commented when they were back at Adrien's apartment. "Wow."

"She's really cool, though," Adrien said. "And she'll seriously be a help getting all this ready."

"Yeah, but I feel like I'm going to be the sidekick she's gonna bark orders at."

Adrien shrugged. "She might if you don't keep up with her."

Nino huffed a laugh. "I have a feeling that's gonna be like trying to keep up with a hurricane."


	22. Admirer

_A/N: *Casually bumps rating up to T (if not for this one, then future ones)*_

* * *

They had the wedding earlier in the day because Adrien told her he had the honeymoon vacation booked right after the reception.

"You did not."

"I did. I meant to book it the day after, but then the dates got mixed up. I don't think you'd mind, though."

"Only that we have to have the wedding early," she had said.

"It's summer; early beats the heat."

Marinette really hadn't been able argue with that one. "So where are you taking me?"

"Do you trust me?"

"I do."

"Then let it be a surprise."

So she'd let him pack her bag, but only after giving him the list of things that were required to be in it no matter where they were going.

"I'm really happy for you," Alya said as she laced up the back of Marinette's dress. "You found a really amazing guy."

"I know," Marinette excitedly squeaked. "I'm really happy. And nervous, but so happy."

"The paper bag is right there if you need it."

Marinette Blushed out of embarrassment. She's had a moment this morning where she'd panicked about if she could marry Adrien or not. Alya had got her a bag that Marinette hadn't used but clung to tightly as Alya explained just why she was being irrational.

"Thank you for this morning," Marinette said. "I'm sorry for freaking out."

"Girl, I've dealt with your freak outs for years," Alya dismissed. "This one just happened to be a very stupid one. He loves you; it's as clear as day. Heck, anyone following your videos or social media knows that you two are pretty madly in love. The looks you two sneak are pretty obvious. And then when I watch you two together… girl, you lucked out with this man."

Marinette's smile returned. "Thank you, Alya. I just… I love him so much and want this day to be perfect."

"It will be," Alya said. "Even if it's not, it will be."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Marinette giggled.

"It means that you're laced up and it's time to go floor your groom. Come on; let's get a move on."

It had been a genius suggestion on Alya's part to have the wedding photos before the ceremony. They wouldn't have to sneak away from between the ceremony to take the pictures, and as Alya mentioned, they would be able to see each other before she walked down the aisle and that might help Marinette be able to settle down a bit.

But Marinette didn't know how much it helped Adrien.

"I thought I was going to pass out," he said, holding her in his arms tightly. Marinette was clinging to him for dear life, the world fading out as she settled in the safety and comfort of his embrace.

They were currently wearing their wedding rings just for the sake of the pictures, and the photographer was getting many of them at the moment. After a while, the man Adrien hired to do the photoshoot started posing the two of them, making them laugh when told to "think of mama and the spaghetti!"

"He's really eccentric," Marinette whispered to him.

"But he's good," Adrien whispered back. "And he owed me a favor."

Eventually, they needed to get to the ceremony, meaning Marinette and Adrien had to take off their rings and exchange them. To Marinette, it was more intimate than she thought it would be. Here she was, pressing her wedding ring into Adrien's hand just like he was pressing his into hers. Those rings would soon be put on again, but have more meaning. And when Adrien's eyes locked onto hers, that's when it hit her like a freight train. These were the rings that would bind them for as long as they both would live. And having him standing with her now, Marinette had never felt more ready to marry him.

* * *

After the ceremony was over and people had wished them all the luck in the world and threw rice at them as they escaped in a limo, they were driven back to Adrien's apartment.

Adrien's mind was a little foggy considering that he'd just married the love of his life. However, he still remembered where the tickets and bags were, so that was good. All they had to do was change out of their wedding attire.

"Adrien, help me out of this dress."

Which was going to be more of a struggle than Adrien ever realized.

While he was aware of the time and that they really should be getting to the train station, he took a moment to relish the fact he was getting his wife out of her wedding dress. His heart was pounding as he unlaced the back of her dress, and if his lips found her shoulder, well, he'd argue his self-control was still strong. Normally, when men get their wives out of their wedding dresses, it's to do other things, not so she could change clothes.

She gasped and shuttered at the contact, and when she moaned his name, Adrien suddenly wanted more than just the one kiss.

But on the other hand, if he didn't stop now, they were going to miss their train.

He forced himself away, as hard as it was. "There," he said, his voice surprisingly breathless. "Go get ready."

"Okay," she hummed, grabbing things from a drawer before slipping into the bathroom.

"What?" he called out, mostly teasing as he stripped from his tux. "Not comfortable changing in front of me?"

"No," she called back. "I just want to keep one surprise for the night."

His expression fell as she shut the door behind her, giggling all the while. He took a deep breath. Well, crap. That was going to haunt him for the next few hours.

* * *

"I cannot believe you booked us here!" Marinette quietly screeched as she looked out the double door windows of the penthouse suite hotel room. The sea was clear, beating against the coast line as the moon shined down on it.

She also tried to focus on that instead of the bed covered with rose petals that reminded her that she was married and that it was her wedding night.

"I thought you'd enjoy it," Adrien said. "I've been here once for a photoshoot, then completely pissed off my dad by taking a day to run around the city unsupervised. I've always wanted to come back here. And now…"

His arms slowly wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her closer closer closer until she was leaning flush against his chest. She shivered at his touch, her heart racing at the fact his chin was hovering over her shoulder.

"Now," he continued, his voice just above a whisper. "I get to enjoy my time here with you. My wife."

Those last two words were so reverent that she wanted nothing more than to melt into his embrace right then and there.

His lips found her cheek, tracing back to her ear.

Somewhere in her mind that was still functioning for the moment, she knew that the next moments would escalate to the highest point they've ever been, and she was a contradictory mix of nervous and anticipative.

She reached for the curtains, managing to pull them shut before Adrien started pulling her back toward the bed.

"You know," he whispered in her ear, "I have been dying ever since you teased me about what might be under your dress."

She smirked. "Do you want to find out… _my husband_?"

He growled. She giggled.

She managed to flip around in his embrace so as to kiss him back. "Do you think you'll like what you see?" she teased.

He pulled back, the hints of moonlight that streamed through the translucent curtains allowing her to see the soft look in his face. "You're my wife," he said. "And I am your biggest admirer. You really think you could disappoint me?"

She felt her chest somehow warm even further. "No."


	23. The Press

They knew it wouldn't last long. Someone was bound to catch the rings on their hands.

Marinette recognized the picture from the last day of their honeymoon when they were resting together on the beach. Marinette's left hand was exposed to show off her rings, and Adrien's left hand was over her back to show off his. It really wasn't hard to jump to a conclusion.

Which meant that the press ran article after article about the estranged son of Gabriel Agreste and the social media darling, Ladybug. Which therefore meant #Ladrien was trending again.

"You know," Adrien said, his chin on Marinette's shoulder as he looked at the article she had up on her computer. "That's actually a really good picture."

Marinette honestly couldn't disagree. "It actually is."

"That's gonna be my new screensaver."

Marinette chuckled. "Really?"

"It's adorable. And the rings are really clear and it almost looks posed."

"As much as I want to deny that, I can't. All I have to say is thank goodness that it was caught on the last day and not any earlier so we could spend our vacation together without a mob following us."

"We still had a few fans spot us," Adrien said.

They did. At least once a day, they did have a few fans stop and ask for pictures and a couple asking for autographs. Adrien nor Marinette could tell them no.

"Yeah, but it wasn't too bad," Marinette dismissed. "And they were very nice."

"True," he said, giving her a squeeze. "It was a nice honeymoon, too."

Marinette hummed in agreement. "Yeah. It was. You did well."

"Good. I'm glad to have pleased you."

A blush overtook her face. Oh, he'd pleased her, all right. "I'm a very lucky woman," Marinette quietly commented, shoving away the embarrassing thoughts in her mind for later.

"We should address the craziness, though," Adrien suggested.

"Yeah, I guess we should. Should we make a video about it? Or do you think that a social media post will be enough?"

Adrien pursed his lips together. "Let's put up another picture of us in our Ladrien shirts with our rings to kinda confirm everything, then we should do a video we star in together and make an announcement at the beginning of it on the fact we got married. We have a Budget Runway video we had planned together that's next in the que, so let's just tack on an announcement to the front of that."

"That sounds like a good idea," Marinette agreed. "I just still can't believe how big of a deal they're making out of it. Like, everyone's suspecting when the wedding was and freaking out. Don't people have better things to do?"

"No, they don't. This is what it's like to be a celebrity, which is only made worse when, you know, you keep a detail like marrying another celebrity as a secret. Congratulations, you just got more popular."

Marinette giggled. "Bring it on."

* * *

That night, they dressed up in their Ladrien shirts and took a handful of selfies. They had debated about whether or not to set up the photoshoot equipment. In the end, they decided they didn't want to spend the time doing that for one picture and that a selfie would do just fine.

In the end, they liked the one where Marinette was standing in front of Adrien, who was pressing a kiss to her cheek, his right hand wrapped around her stomach to pull her close while she held his left hand in hers, showing off both their rings to the camera while taking the selfie.

In all honestly, Marinette liked the simplicity and spontaneity of the picture compared to one they could have planned in a photoshoot. For a moment, she felt like a regular girl who was just too excited to keep the fact she was married a secret.

Within moments of posting it, Marinette and Adrien were getting everything from "Congratulations Ladybug and Adrien!" to "Our ship has sailed!"

That had caused them to laugh.

The next day, Adrien and Marinette were sitting in front of the camera, preparing to do a video. The script was planned, but they both knew they rarely ever stuck to it.

"Hey everyone, Ladybug here, and before we get started on anything, I'm sure you'll notice that Adrien and I are wearing our '#Ladrien" shirts." The duo took a moment to point to their shirts. "Which a lot of you guys have been asking for. Honestly, Adrien and I find it hilarious."

"Anyway, we're here to address _all _the media fuss. Yes, we did get married."

"We did want to keep it secret for a little while," Adrien said. "Just because we wanted it to be private and didn't want to have to share it. We wanted it as personal as possible. We don't know if we'll be posting any pictures from it or not, so we thank you for respecting that and not begging to see anything."

The duo went on a little while longer, addressing some of the questions that had been constantly popping up everywhere before wrapping it up and cutting the camera.

"I think that went well," Adrien said.

Marinette nodded. "I think that was a good idea. Nicely done. But I feel like 'Bug out' when you're around isn't such a good ending. I think it's also weird that we have you going by your name and I'm going by a pseudonym."

"It's your channel, my lady," he said. "They come here for you and I just happen to be in a handful of videos. And I've already been branded to the moon and back, so it's not like there's a point in giving me a pseudonym."

"True," she relented. "But I just can't help but think that it would be nice to try to rebrand you considering that you're no longer working for your father or even related to his brand anymore."

He smiled. "But, if you want to give me one, I'd happily take it, and then we can try to rebrand me, okay?"

Marinette grinned. "Okay. Do you have any ideas?"

"No," he said. "I'll let my lady name me."

Her grin only widened. "What about…" She sauntered up to him and dropped in his lap. "Chat Noir."

He chuckled. "Chat Noir?"

"The balance to my Ladybug."

"I wouldn't want to bring any bad luck to your channel, my lady."

"Honestly," Marinette said. "I think someone has to balance out all my good luck."

"Whatever my lady desires," he said.

"Then be my kitty."

"As you wish."


	24. Reveal

"So," Marinette began as they were eating a lunch. "I've been really thinking about all this moving stuff lately."

Adrien had, too, but he'd yet to voice his opinions. "And?"

"And I think that we shouldn't look for an apartment but definitely a house that we can grow into."

"I agree," he said.

"I also think that it should obviously have a large enough space for my office, but maybe have a separate space for yours?"

"I hadn't really thought of that," he admitted. "We've been sharing a space for a while, but that does make sense for me to have my own space to keep all the paperwork out of your creative space."

Marinette nodded. "Okay. So, office for me, and you, and then a… uh, a couple bedrooms for future kids."

Adrien was sure he was now beet red. Marinette's cheeks were sure pink as she looked away in embarrassment. While Adrien knew she wanted kids, and she knew he wanted them, too, they hadn't really talked much about the "when." "Uh, yeah. That makes sense."

Her cheeks were still pink when she nodded.

Thankfully, a knock at the front door cut the awkward conversation short. Why it was so awkward, Adrien didn't know. It's not like they weren't married and had… well, done the action that made kids.

Still, he took the distraction and answered the door.

Only to immediately regret it.

"Adrien."

"Father."

The two men stood statue still as they faced each other off.

"What brings you?" Adrien said, trying to be somewhat civil but ready to fight if his father chose to pick one.

"I heard about your… marriage," he began, disdain clear on his face.

"And?" Adrien challenged.

"M Agreste."

Adrien's hackles stood on end as Marinette appeared at his side.

"Ladybug," Gabriel curtly greeted.

"How unexpected to see you here," she said through a forced smile.

"Well, I wasn't expecting my son to marry you."

Adrien bit back a growl, but Marinette didn't seem fazed. "Why not? We had been seeing each other for a while. Did you think your son was the kind to just date and not follow through?"

His father recoiled in surprise. Adrien got a twisted sort of satisfaction from it. _Yup, that's my lady: fierce as ever. Even against her own father in law._

But then Gabriel's eyes narrowed. "To be honest, a lot that he's done in the past few months has surprised me."

"I'm sure it wouldn't have had you been more open and supportive," Marinette said as sweetly as she could.

That caught both men off guard. A sadistic grin was itching to make its way across Adrien's lips, but he held it back.

But Gabriel looked appalled. "I beg your pardon?"

Marinette didn't back down. Instead, she got a fire in her eyes. "You heard me. If you can't take the truth, don't come fishing for it."

Holy crap, he loved this woman so much.

Gabriel was about to yell at Marinette, but Adrien cut between them before he could. "What are you even doing here?" he asked. "What _possible_ reason could you have for visiting me?"

Marinette slipped in front of him before he could block her. "Because if it's to yell at him," she snapped at Gabriel. "Or condemn him, or try to convince him he made a mistake or-or-or I don't know! But unless it involves an apology, leave him alone."

Gabriel's eyes locked on Adrien's. And Adrien, feeling protective over Marinette, wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her back. She grumbled at the action, clearly ready to be the one to protect him, and while he appreciated the gesture, he knew it was his duty to protect her from his father, not the other way around.

"I certainly never thought," Gabriel snipped. "That no son of mine would do something like this."

"Never thought I'd have to," Adrien snipped back.

"And make a mockery the Agreste name."

"You can have it back."

Adrien wasn't sure who was more stunned at his statement: his father or him.

Marinette was plenty surprised, so he didn't count her.

"I'm serious," Adrien said. "Take it."

Gabriel's eyes narrowed. "Don't be ridiculous, Adrien—"

"_I'm_ the one being ridiculous?" Adrien challenged. "Because you were the one who appeared at my doorstep today."

The silence was deafening.

"If that's all," Adrien finally said, breaking the silence. "Then please leave."

With one last glare, Gabriel turned around and marched away. Adrien and Marinette watched as he disappeared before retreating back inside.

"Are you okay?" were the first words out of Marinette's mouth.

"Fine," Adrien grumbled. "Just peachy."

Her worry didn't fade. She stepped forward to wrap her arms around his waist, holding him tight.

He took all the comfort she offered.

"I'm sorry," Marinette said.

He grunted, preferring to rest his chin on her head, instead.

"Are you really going to give up your last name?"

"Do you think it's a bad idea?" Adrien said. "Because… I kinda want to. I know it's your last name now—"

"No," she said. "Don't worry about me. We can legally change things again. What do you want to do? Do you want to keep that name?"

Adrien paused, frowning. "I… I kinda don't."

"Okay," she said. "Then if you want to change it, then you can change it."

"But I gave you my last name," he said. "And so whatever we do, we do together and—"

"It's okay," she interrupted, reassuring him with a smile. "It's okay. If you feel like changing your last name is a better option, then change your last name."

Adrien sighed. "I think we should discuss this at length later."

"Okay," she said. "And I'll be ready to listen whenever you're ready."

He grinned, then pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Thank you for being so supportive."

"I'm your wife," she said. "I'm proud to be."

* * *

A week later, Adrien and Marinette had decided many things.

One: they were going to change their last name. Not for the sake of Adrien, but for the sake of their future kids. Adrien commented that he'd rather have them baring a last name that wasn't Agreste.

Marinette was okay with that.

"So I was thinking," Adrien had said. "Would your parents be angry if I took on theirs? Would then basically be willing to adopt me?"

Marinette had scoffed at that. "Come on. You think my papa wouldn't claim you as his son in a _heartbeat_?"

Which had been precisely what had happened. Tom and Sabine had been really supportive, especially once Adrien had explained everything.

The second thing that Adrien and Marinette decided was that moving got higher on their priorities list. They didn't want to be close to Gabriel. They didn't want Gabriel to know where they lived. That likely wouldn't last long, but they wanted to get some distance between them and Gabriel.


	25. Hiding

They had found a house just outside of the city limit they really liked. Though it was a bummer that it was outside of Paris, it was in a nice area and allowed them to have a larger house than they would be able to find within the city limits.

There were four bedrooms for them to raise a family in, though one would become Adrien's office. A nice kitchen connected to an open dining room and a large living area were what filled the downstairs. Then, the biggest bonus of all was the large studio space that Marinette could use as an office. It was perfect, and they immediately put in a bid.

Adrien and Marinette were overjoyed when they were the ones accepted.

However, now meant that they had to combine two apartment's worth of things into one home. They decided that there were going to be things they each packed that were going to have to be gotten rid of once they moved into the home, but for now, things like deciding whose furniture stayed and whose went was possible. As was sorting through all the kitchen stuff.

"We should have done this earlier," Marinette commented as she unloaded as much of her kitchen supplies from her car as she could carry.

Adrien nodded his agreement, setting another box of stuff on the floor of their living room. "Oh well. Too late now. And it was nice to have stuff there to make lunches with."

Marinette shrugged. "I suppose. But now we have to figure out how many frying pans we actually need and who's are nicer and _ugh._"

Adrien chuckled. "We'll get through this."

"Yeah. Next century."

With a laugh, Adrien wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in. "Someone's grumpy," he quietly teased.

Marinette sighed, relaxing against him. "I'm sorry, I'm just… a little frustrated, that's all."

"Why? Because you had to go down to two videos a week?"

"Well… kinda, but honestly, that's for the better anyway."

"Because we're moving?"

"Yes and no?" she said. "Like, I'm excited to move into a new house that's honestly amazing. But like… we're moving because your dad's a jerk. We're literally moving to hide away from him."

Adrien sighed, feeling a weight on his shoulder. "Yeah. I know. I'm sorry he's such a jerk."

"Yeah, because that's _your_ fault," she snarked. "Adrien, I just… wish this was under better circumstances. That he wasn't practically stalking your every movement. You had to block him on social media already."

"He's also stopped by our apartment one day when we were both out. I don't know what he wants, but frankly, I don't want him anywhere near me. Or you. Or what about _kids_? I don't want him anywhere _near_ them, mostly because I have no idea what he'd do. I'd like to just talk to him and figure out what's going through his mind. Like… why's he being a stalker all of a sudden."

"Your guess is as good as mine," Marinette said. "Maybe he's just pissed because he doesn't know what to do with the fact he can't control you anymore."

Adrien shrugged. "Maybe. Crazy reason to be a stalker."

"Adrien, stalkers generally don't need reasons. They're just crazy."

He grunted in agreement. "Could also be pissed I changed my last name."

"Oh yeah, no doubt he's livid. But Adrien Dupain-Cheng has a certain ring to it."

"That it does," Adrien agreed. "Your dad took me in and practically adopted me and is treating me better than my dad ever did, so I won't complain."

"You have a right to," she said. "It's okay to be angry."

"But no use in being bitter," Adrien said. "Otherwise, my father wins."

"I suppose you're right," Marinette admitted.

"Besides," Adrien said with a grin. "Your dad is awesome. We're pun buddies."

"Oh geez," Marinette mumbled under her breath.

Adrien laughed at that. "And then to top it off, my fans have actually been surprisingly receptive to me becoming 'Chat Noir'. So life isn't all that bad."

Adrien had thought for sure that it would backfire. That people would have no idea what he was going on about. But when news got out that Adrien disowned the family name because there was a rift between him and his father, Adrien found it the perfect time to rebrand himself. He changed all his social media handles to "Chat Noir," and to his surprise, people latched onto it surprisingly quickly. It led to a whole new social media platform for him as a model critiquing the fashion industry instead of one being part of it.

That, and it didn't hurt that he was married to Ladybug which helped re-expose him that way. People loved the idea of 'Ladybug' and 'Chat Noir' being a couple, and soon enough #LadyNoir was larger than #Ladrien had been.

It was a whole new start for Adrien, and he loved it.

"Now," he said, calling their attention back to the fact their living room was full of two kitchen's worth of supplies. "We should get back to business. After all, we have a lot to sort through."

Marinette groaned. "Don't remind me. Can't we just stay here and snuggle?"

"As much as I'd like to, I'd actually rather get this all over with so we can snuggle more tonight. Preferably under a blanket, maybe with popcorn and a movie that we quickly forget about."

Teasing her like that, even after three months of marriage, still caused him to blush. Better yet, it got her to blush, too, even though she was able to take those insinuations in stride better than he did. "Oh? What ever could distract me from a good movie and popcorn?"

His blush deepened. "Do you think I should tell you so you can prepare for what I have planned? Or keep it secret so that you'll never expect what's coming?"

Marinette pretended to think it over. "Maybe you can show me now?"

He wanted to. But… "After we figure out the kitchen, I will do whatever you ask of me."

She pouted. "_Fine_," she whined. "Whatever. Let's just get this stupid thing over with."

He chuckled, disappointed as she slipped from his grip to start lining up all the pans they had between the two of them. But oh well. Something he could look forward to later.


	26. Piano

It took a couple long weeks to successfully move houses. The first thing they did before moving in was paint the walls with colors they'd spent a week arguing over. It took a while to settle on a choice, as well as grabbing paint samples of all the colors they were considering. That settled the dispute of all but two of the rooms in the house, which they were forced to admit they were both wrong color wise.

One more trip to the paint store, and they finally agreed on what colors to paint each room.

Once that had been settled, Adrien suggested they hire someone to paint the walls instead of doing it themselves. This sparked another discussion between the two with Marinette against the idea so that they could save some money.

Adrien won out only because he logically stated that it would be a better investment of her time to pack her workspace and produce another video as opposed to spending a couple days painting the walls.

"Fine," she had relented. "But _only_ because painting walls is a hassle and I'm liable to make a mess with the paint."

Having never painted walls before, Adrien thought that hiring a professional to do it was the better option anyway. He didn't want to mess up painting the walls, which may or may not be hard to do.

He didn't know.

Once the rooms had been painted, Marinette and Adrien began moving in. Plagg was forced to spend a day trapped in the bathroom so he knew where the litterbox was. It also allowed them to have the doors wide open as the hired movers brought boxes in. Tikki was kept out of the way on a leash so she wouldn't be under the movers' feet or have boxes put down on top of her. The last thing they needed was for her to get crushed.

Soon enough, the last box had been brought into the house. Even though there were boxes everywhere, Adrien and Marinette had been psyched when they realized that this was their new home. _Theirs._ That they owned together.

The rest of the day had been spent unpacking as much as they could. At least enough to make dinner in their new kitchen to celebrate.

The next day was when the furniture they bought got delivered. Somewhere in the consolidating process, Adrien and Marinette had decided not to keep any of their furniture and instead, sell it and get new furniture that they picked out together specifically for their new house.

As they looked over the nice, new furniture sets that slowly filled the rooms, Marinette and Adrien agreed that it was a fantastic decision.

"It's so fancy," Marinette had commented.

Once all the furniture had been moved in, that was when they were able to start unpacking everything. A week and a half later, they finally got everything unpacked and set up. It was still a bit of a disaster as they figured out how to organize everything, as well as deciding whether some things needed to stay or go, but there were no boxes in the house anymore, so that was a win.

And as such, Adrien thought it was the perfect occasion to have a date night at home.

While Marinette was working diligently in her office, Adrien made dinner for the two of them. It was supposed to be a surprise, but when he heard the door to her office open, he supposed it was all right if she saw what he was doing. He turned to greet her

Only for his jaw to hit the ground.

Shyly, she grinned. "I meant to keep it a surprise," she said, spinning around, the chiffon layers of the blue dress she wore fluttering around her as she did. "But the latch on the back is bent, and I can't get out of this dress."

His heart was beating fast as he took in the sight of his wife in a stunning dress. Five months married, and he still couldn't get over how stunning of a woman she was. However, his mind still lingered on her words of "out of this dress." With a smirk, Adrien walked behind her. "I would love to," he began, setting his hands on her hips. "But maybe later."

"Adrien," she warned.

"Marinette," he returned.

"Please."

"But I'd like for you to be in this dress for date night," he whined.

She froze under his touch. "Date night?"

His grin widened. "We just finished unpacking everything," he said. "Let's celebrate."

"But the house is a disaster."

"But we're technically moved in," he countered. "We got rid of all the boxes. So, let's celebrate."

Marinette sighed. "Fine. I'll stay in the dress for date night. But please unhook me anyway so I can fix it before then."

He whined. "Fine. But only because I love you."

"Think of it this way," she said as he fiddled with the surprisingly stuck latch. "You get to get me out of a dress twice."

"Well," he said, finally having to bend the latch open to unhook it. "I suppose that's true." He then grabbed the zipper and pulled it all the way down, ignoring her startled gasp as he pressed a kiss to her spine.

"What am I going to do with you," she grumbled as he pressed yet another kiss to her back.

"Indulge me in a date night?" he said, pressing a third kiss to her neck.

She moaned, her body gravitating back towards him. "You're terrible."

"That sounded really weak," he pointed out, his grip on her hips tightening as he ran his nose along her jaw. "Like you didn't even mean it."

She sighed. "Get back to not burning dinner," she grumbled, though Adrien swore there was a dusting of pink on her cheeks.

He hummed in disappointment, then snuck another kiss on the back of her neck before he walked away.

She grumbled something under her breath as she marched off back to her office, Adrien grinning all the while. He loved being married to that woman. Loved all the little things that occurred in daily life: stolen kisses, sneaky glances, soft touches. He relished all of it.

When dinner was completed, he slipped upstairs to dress up in a button down and vest ensemble, just so he'd look presentable beside his lady wearing that stunning gown. After that, he plated everything up, lit a few candles he'd found, then set up his speaker with some piano music to play in the background. Once he decided everything was perfect, he went to the door of Marinette's office.

On the door, there was a green sign that said "Not Filming," meaning it was safe for Adrien to enter. The other side was red with the words "Filming! Do Not Enter." That had been a nice little addition to her office. Now, there would be no more incidents of Adrien accidentally interrupting the filming process.

Though he knew he could enter freely, he still knocked, awaiting for her to grant him entrance.

"Who's there?" she called out, smile clear in her voice.

He couldn't help but grin. "Your prince charming, my lady," he returned. "Here to request that you do him the honor of dining with him tonight."

"Well," she responded, opening up the door to reveal she'd done her hair and make-up as well.

Wow, she was beautiful.

"How can I refuse such a kind and handsome prince?"


	27. Protect You

Marinette was really concerned for her husband. It all started when Audrey Bourgeois launched a full-scale attack against Ladybug. Both Marinette and Adrien suspected that Gabriel had something to do with it but there was no proof of that.

Adrien, being her manager-slash-assistant, was on the case immediately doing damage control to whatever Audrey was attacking Ladybug on.

Marinette would have been more than happy letting it go, but Adrien had been insistent upon fighting back. She didn't argue until tonight when she caught Adrien slumped over on his desk, resting surrounded by paperwork. She sighed, knowing her husband was running himself into the ground for her sake.

She approached with the intent of waking him, only so that she could drag him to bed where he could actually get a good night's rest. However, the moment her hand touched his shoulder, he jolted awake.

"Adrien," she softly spoke. "Come to bed."

"Can't," he said. "I have to finish it."

"In the morning," she said. "Please, Adrien, don't run yourself into the ground for this. It's stupid anyway."

"It's not stupid," Adrien said. "Audrey is attempting to drag your hard-earned name through the mud while building herself up in the process. That alone isn't okay with me, but the fact she's also going behind your back and trying to talk some interested investors out of doing business with you is unacceptable to me."

"Oh well," Marinette said. "If they don't want to invest, then let them go."

"Absolutely not." Adrien turned around in his chair. "These were people who came to you curious about where your brand is going, and I've been working hard to get them to invest in you. And now that I've finally convinced nearly all of them, most of them are wanting to pull out. Having them be hesitant is one thing, but having a woman who hates you steal your potential investors out from under you out of spite is _not_ okay with me."

Marinette sighed. "Then work on it in the morning. It's late. Come to bed."

"I have to finish—"

"No." Marinette grabbed the back of Adrien's desk chair, pulling it out away from his desk.

"Marinette."

"Adrien, please," she begged, spinning him around and leaning against the arms of the chair. "Come to bed. Work on it in the morning. It will be fine."

Adrien sighed. "I just don't want you to lose these investors—"

"We won't."

"—because you're on the verge of being able to run several lines," Adrien continued as though he hadn't heard her. "Thanks to these new investors, you'll be able to run the two different lines instead of just the one smaller one that you're running now. This is _huge_, bug."

She sighed. "I know it is," she assured. "But to be honest, it's not as important as keeping you healthy and sane. So come to bed. Focus back on it in the morning once you've had a good night's sleep. Because you haven't had one of those in a while."

For a moment, it looked like Adrien was going to argue with her. But he sighed, his shoulders slumping in exhaustion. "Fine. You win."

"Yay," Marinette quietly cheered as she grabbed Adrien's hand to pull him up out of the chair. "Come to bed. Get some sleep."

"Okay. I'm coming."

* * *

Marinette usually wasn't the first one up in the mornings. But today, it didn't surprise her that Adrien was still out like a light. She smiled. Her poor husband, running himself into the ground like this. Though she was awake, she didn't want to move. She didn't want to take the risk of waking him up. So, she settled against him, lazily draping her hand over his neck so she could run her fingers through his hair.

He hummed in his sleep, shifting closer to her touch.

She grinned. She kept it up for a while before he gradually opened his eyes. They locked on hers for a split second before drifting closed again. He groaned. "Don't wanna get up," he grumbled, his morning voice still rough from sleep.

"Don't," she said. "Stay. Rest."

His eyes opened to half-mast before falling shut again. This time, he slung his arm around her, pulling her flush against his chest. "Snuggle," he murmured.

Marinette sighed, content. "Anything you want," she said, returning to scratching the nape of his neck again. After all, someone needed to protect her husband from his terrible sleeping habits. And she was more than happy to do that job.


	28. Tangled

Things were hectic in the Dupain-Cheng household. Very insanely so. Marinette's new line was coming out. With the investors firmly in place—a blessing after the whole Audrey debacle—and her last line a very large success, she designed a new one for the new season. She also split her line into two, calling the women's side "Ladybug" and the men's "Chat Noir". It was a very striking branding that was able to relate to her audience really well, especially since Chat Noir took off.

Though he tried to stay strictly the business manager for Ladybug, Adrien found himself in the spotlight so often that he somehow found himself rebranded as the men's version of Ladybug. He was very active on social media as well as becoming a video creator. He didn't post videos often, only once a week. His topics focused on fashion, particularly looking professional, but he also posted often about photography and looking your best in pictures. He also threw in flirting tips on occasion, which always ended up being the stars of his videos. While his channel was aimed more toward men, he also gained a large female audience, too.

Marinette wasn't surprised. "You're a looker, kitty."

He chuckled. "As long as the one woman in my life thinks so, I'll be happy."

Marinette was proud to say they had been a very lucky duo, albeit a very busy one. Marinette knew they'd have to slow down at some point, but that point was not yet. However, they _did_ hire an editor to take over all their video editing, which allowed Adrien to be free to be Chat Noir as well as balance all the business side of their endeavors while Marinette was always busy sewing, filming, or designing.

And it was because of that insanity that they realized they completely missed their first anniversary.

"I cannot believe we forgot," Adrien said as he stared at the calendar.

"Honestly," Marinette said. "I can believe I could. I could even believe you might. That both of us missed it…"

"I feel ashamed."

"Yeah."

"You know we're gonna have to make up for it."

"When?" Marinette challenged. "Because we have the business deals to iron out then the launch of the new line then the event we organized for the investors—"

"Now," Adrien said. "We have three days next week we have nothing to do. Let's drop everything and leave."

Marinette looked at him wide eyed. "But… I was planning to do videos—"

"Screw it," Adrien said. "Let's screw it. If you don't post a video, whatever. Tell your fans you're busy."

"With what?"

"Me."

Marinette's expression fell, and Adrien waggled his brows at her.

"Really," Marinette flatly challenged.

"I'm serious," he said. "We could really use the break."

Marinette quirked a brow. "So… are we just gonna stay home and do nothing?"

"Nope," Adrien said. "Let's travel somewhere and do something. Even if we spend a day in a hotel room, we are not in our house that doubles as an office. Let's just… go. Somewhere. Anywhere. I don't care. Let's get away for a few days and enjoy a late anniversary."

Marinette looked at her husband. "You aren't gonna let this go, are you?"

"No."

There was a pause, but Marinette surrendered with a sigh. She couldn't deny that a vacation sounded nice. "Then surprise me."

His smile turned cattish. "With pleasure."

* * *

Adrien had everything booked within a day, and soon enough, they were traveling out of France to another country that was far away from their commitments and their work and the hectic chaos that was their life.

They got to their hotel later than expected, but that was because they took a touristy detour and paused to take pictures. They had no commitments, after all. They didn't have anything planned or anywhere to be. It was their late anniversary, and Marinette was plenty glad to enjoy it, even if it was short and there was a table load of work to do when they got home.

But they could think about that later.

When they got into their room, they dropped their luggage and then collapsed on the bed. One that was surprisingly plush.

"I don't wanna move," Marinette mentioned.

"Neither do I," Adrien agreed.

So, they didn't. The most they did was strip out of their clothes to their underwear and crawl into bed. Somehow, half an hour later, they ended up with a room service tray with dessert only on it. They should probably have eaten dinner…

But it was their anniversary, so why not?

"You were right," Marinette admitted, scooping a spoonful of the ice cream they had ordered. "This was a fantastic idea."

"What part?" Adrien asked.

"Coming out here and doing _nothing._"

Adrien chuckled. "I told you so," he said, tapping her nose playfully.

Marinette frowned at the sticky feeling on her nose. "Did you put whipped cream on my nose?" she said, smile unable to be contained.

His smile grew smug. "Quite possibly. You want me to clean it off?"

Marinette didn't get the chance to answer. He reached out around her waist and pulled her down into bed with him, changing their positions so that he was now the one hovering over. She was laughing, her heart fluttering while Adrien leaned over to lick the cream off her nose.

"What am I going to do with you?" she teased. It was funny to think that not so long ago, she would have been embarrassed by his actions. And that was even after they were married. It had taken them a while to be fully comfortable around each other. But now…

A year into their marriage, and Marinette was more than comfortable with his kissy-teasing or how it turned easily into something more sensual. Or how that she now fully expected kissy-teasing to turn into something sensual. Like how Adrien's little "let me lick that whipped cream off your nose" turned into him carefully laying kisses on her cheeks, his arms slowly wrapping around her to pull her close.

She hummed, happily settling in his embrace.

"We still have ice cream that's going to melt," Marinette commented, trying to hold it together while she melted under his ministrations.

"I have better things on my mind than ice cream," he said, squeezing her tightly.

"But maybe _I _want it."

He paused his ministrations to look down at her. "Well, then, I seem to be failing at my job."

Her heart was pounding, because she knew that look in his eye. And the thought of getting tangled up with him, her wonderfully bare-chested husband with his disheveled hair that she'd contributed to making and a lopsided smile that melted her heart every time, was enough to make her forget about the ice cream completely. "What job?" she challenged, pretending she wasn't melting.

"Making you forget about everything other than me."

She smirked. So much for the ice cream.

Oh well.

"You're right," she purred, reaching up to wrap her arms over his neck and pull him in close, "you're failing so far. Would you like to try again?"

He made a little happy noise in the back of his throat, one that went straight to her gut. "With pleasure, my lady."


	29. Matching

**_29\. Matching_**

"Are you sure you're okay? Adrien asked over the phone. "If I need to, I'll come home early."

"No. Don't be ridiculous," Marinette argued. Currently, she was laying on the couch. She'd managed to force herself out of bed, but she couldn't make it to her office without feeling like she was going to pass out. "You're there for a reason. She's our biggest investor and asked to meet with you. It's critical to our business."

"But then I could come home—"

"No, because she want's you to mix and mingle with other potential investors, and that's how we grow a business. Don't worry, kitty. I'll be fine by tomorrow."

Adrien made a sound over the phone that she knew too well: he wasn't convinced. "If you need me to come home early—"

"I'm a tough bug, kitty. Don't worry," she repeated. "Really. It's going to be okay."

He sighed, clearly resigned rather than appeased. "Okay. Get better soon, my love."

"I'll be fine. I'll talk to you later. I love you."

"Love you, too."

When Marinette hung up, she sighed, cringing at the pain that was in her stomach. She marched upstairs to the bathroom, only to see they were out of stomach medicine.

She'd called up Alya and begged her to help. Which Alya did in a heartbeat because she was amazing and Marinette couldn't have asked for a better friend.

However, Marinette was forced to veto best friend privileges since said women did _not_ bring her the stomach medicine she asked for.

"You know," Marinette complained to Alya, none too pleased at the moment. "I asked you to get me stomach medicine. Not a pregnancy test."

Alya quirked a brow. "Let's see," she said, beginning to list thing on her fingers. "You and your hubby went on a nice little romantic late anniversary vacation just over two months ago. You've been slowly getting sicker over the past two weeks. And no time since that vacation have you complained about your period. You doubt me?"

"Yes."

"Okay," Alya said, looking at Marinette with a smirk. "If I win, you buy me ice cream and I'll set up your doctor's appointment, and we'll go together all while I brag about how I told you so. And then congratulate you all the while, you know. As well as stalk my pinterest board to figure out how you're going to break to Adrien that you're pregnant."

Marinette frowned. "Why do you have a pinterest board—"

"I have a pinterest board for everything," Alya interrupted. "Even a wedding so I'm prepared if Nino ever proposes."

"Have you been dropping hints?" Marinette asked.

"Duh, but the boy's dense. But this isn't about me," she hissed. "This is about you and the fact that I know you're pregnant."

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are. And I swear that if I'm wrong, I'll buy you all the ice cream you want for the next month. I'll stock your fridge."

Marinette quirked a brow. "You're putting more on the line."

"I'm that confident."

Silence.

"Fine," Marinette relented. "Give me the pregnancy test. And I want the good ice cream."

Alya smirked. "We'll see about that."

…

When Adrien came home after being gone for five very long days, he was happy to completely collapse on the couch. He hated business trips and talking with investors and playing the business game. He thought he'd gotten over doing that, but apparently not.

At least it wasn't half as bad as when he was doing this for his father. They didn't do the flashy 'you're special so come to my event' thing nor did they do the haggling back and forth. A potential investor either invested or they didn't. Marinette didn't play games, and neither did Adrien. It was just easier that way.

"You look like you've had a rough go of it."

Adrien cracked an eye to see Marinette walking over to him. It put a smile on his face. "I'm home now. I can't complain too much."

She hummed, then took her husband's cheeks in her hands and leaned over to press a kiss to his lips.

He wasted no time in pulling her down into his lap. She squeaked, but then dissolved into laughter.

"Has my wonderful wife been feeling better?" he asked, wrapping her up into his arms. He'd been hesitant to leave with how often she was queasy or dizzy in the mornings. He really hoped it was gone for her sake, but he also hoped she'd gotten over it because he didn't want to get sick, either. They were busy enough as is without both of them being down to illness.

"Yes and no," she said. "It comes and goes. I'll get over it soon, though."

"You said that last week," he said.

"No, really this time."

"Mm-hmm," he hummed doubtfully. "You don't get better soon, and we're going to the doctor."

"I'll be fine," she assured. "Anyway, I have a present for you."

He quirked a brow. "What?"

She smiled, scrambling off his lap. "Wait one moment." He was disappointed at the loss of her, but she looked like she was on a mission as she scurried away into her office, so he didn't protest.

When she returned, she had a long gift box that she presented him with.

"You really got me something?" he asked, confused.

"Yeah," she said, sitting down beside him. "It kinda wasn't planned."

Surprised, he opened the box, carefully as he always did. Inside were a pair of little, yellow booties that looked like they'd fit a doll. He picked them up, staring at them curiously because he knew he was missing something. And when it finally clicked, he was kicking himself for taking way too long to realize what a little pair of yellow baby booties meant.

"We're having a baby?"

Marinette grinned. "You didn't pull out everything."

Adrien looked back in the box to see… another matching pair…

"Two?" he said, pulling out the pair and trying to figure out why there'd be two…

Pairs…

His eyes widened. "Twins?"

Marinette's grin split her face as she nodded.

"We're having twins?" Adrien repeated, only for Marinette to nod.

"We're having twins."

Adrien shoved the booties and gift box aside before practically tackling his wife to the couch in a hug. She clung to him, giggling all the while.

"Twins?" he repeated.

"I have the ultrasound that Alya forced me to go to," she said. "Do you want to see your little twins."

"I do, but that means I have to let you go and I don't really want to do that right now." But then he paused and pulled away. "Wait, you went without me?"

"I'm sorry," she said. "Alya and I made a bet, and I didn't think I was pregnant, but she was right and I was and so she set up the appointment—I'm still shocked she got me in so fast, but she did—and so I was just going to surprise you with the ultrasound, because that had shocked me to pieces over the fact I was pregnant, but then the doctor pointed out the second one and I about died and—"

"Marinette," Adrien gently interrupted. "Breathe."

She took a breath. "I'm sorry," she repeated. "Okay. I'm sorry. I should have known you would have wanted to tag along. Next appointment, okay? And I can just show you the ultrasound pictures I got yesterday."

Adrien sighed, but he couldn't keep the smile off his face. "I'll let this one slide, but I'm going with you every appointment from here on, okay?"

Marinette smiled. "I honestly expected that from you."

He grinned. "Those are my little ones, too. Of course, I want to see how they're doing and growing."

Her smile was soft and her gaze gentle as she reached up to drape her arms around his neck. "You're going to be such a good dad."

"I'll do my best," he said, reaching down to place a hand over her abdomen. Her heart fluttered at the tender, intimate touch. "Because you and my little ones deserve the best from me."

"Which is why I know you're going to be a great dad."

Adrien smiled. "I love you," he said, leaning closer to her.

She barely got out an "I love you, too," before he kissed her over and over and over again.


	30. Paris

Marinette couldn't hold off telling her fans the special news for too long. Her stomach was growing a little faster than usual, considering she held twins, and she was a petite woman who would show her pregnancy belly soon enough.

So, when she and Adrien sat down to record the video announcement, they only hoped it would go over okay. After all, while they chose to focus on the good notes, they did get a fair share of hate from some crazed fans when it was revealed they were married.

However, just as that reveal, this reveal went over pretty well.

"#Catbug is trending," Adrien informed her with no shortage of amusement.

"Catbug?"

"Our kids," he said through a smirk.

Marinette couldn't help but giggle. "Oh, your dad's going to LOVE that."

"Well, my dad isn't getting near the kids, so who cares? Tom will get a kick out of it, though."

Marinette smirked, though her heart hurt for Adrien. His dad should be a part of it, but after their lack of communication and a tense accidental meeting, she doubted either man was going to take the step to repair their relationship. "He will. That's going to be amusing when we tell him. He was thrilled enough as is to learn he was going to be a grandpa."

As expected, Tom did find it amusing when they told him. Of course, this meant Sabine and Marinette were relegated to listening about 'Catbugs' for the rest of the night.

"He's going to be a good father," Sabine had whispered to Marinette.

"He is," Marinette responded, watching as Adrien and her father interreacted. "I know it. He's already got the dad jokes down."

* * *

Halfway through her pregnancy, Ladybug was forced to announce that she'd be going down to two videos permanently because she was going to be a mom and now had less time to spend on making videos. Adrien was proud of her even though she had a hormone-influenced meltdown over it.

"It's for the better, bug," he cooed. "You should take it easy for now instead of stressing yourself out over getting three videos out."

Marinette didn't answer. She was busy crying in his shirt over irrational things. But Adrien was there supporting her and soothing her, no matter how stupid she sounded.

* * *

When they learned what genders the twins were, they decided to withhold the information from their fans for a little while. They of course had individual reveals for her parents as well as Alya and Nino. But withholding the surprise from their fans allowed them time to plan out a gender reveal video.

Marinette had came up with a blast of an idea. They had two white onesies and two opaque, plastic containers that were filled with a clothing dye. Adrien and Marinette each held a onesie, a black "Catbug #1" written on Adrien's and a "Catbug #2" written on Marinette's. They each dipped the onesie into each vat of dye, holding them there a moment to absorb the color before Marinette counted to three and they each pulled up a pink onesie.

"It's going to be exciting," Adrien commented as they were cleaning up the mess from the video. "Seems like we're going to have two more little ladybugs running around the house."

"They'll probably love being called your ladybugs," Marinette said, rubbing her swollen belly. "But they'd probably love being called your kittens, too. They're yours, after all. They're likely to inherit your sense of humor."

Adrien could only chuckle. "I hope so. My humor and your good looks would be the perfect pairing."

"What about _your_ good looks, M Model?"

"Mine are overrated," he dismissed with a wave. "They better look like you."

"Nuh-uh," she said. "They better look like _you._"

The duo looked at each other for a while, each wearing a smile.

"Well," Adrien said. "May the strongest genes not be mine."

Marinette only chuckled. "Dork."

* * *

Months later, when the catbugs were born, Marinette and Adrien wanted to keep as low of a profile as possible for the time being. To just have a moment to be a happy, new family without a social media presence.

Their hair was black like Marinette's but their eyes were green as Adrien's.

They were okay with that tie.

Eventually, when they were ready to reveal Emilie and Louise a couple months later, Adrien and Marinette put them in their little, numbered "Catbug" onesies and black kitty hats with embroidered ladybugs Marinette had made and took pictures to share.

Catbug trended on social media for a couple days after that.

It was difficult, but Marinette was immensely grateful to be self-employed. She could run her channel and business around being a mother. And then the bonus of Adrien being self-employed at home, too, meant that they could pass the girls back and forth so Marinette could film in peace and then Adrien had time to make phone calls.

On top of that, Tom and Sabine were very needy grandparents who wanted to see the twin catbugs as much as they could. Marinette wasn't surprised by it, but it was a blessing in disguise. Having such eager babysitters allowed Marinette and Adrien to either have date nights or nights out alone or with friends. Because as much as Marinette loved and adored her husband, they did work together and occasionally needed a bit of time apart from each other to keep their sanity.

It wasn't easy, but there were times Marinette would call it "practically perfect."

"Do you realize," Marinette said one night when they were curled up in bed. The girls were in their cribs and thankfully asleep for the time being. "That we're together and have two amazing little girls all because you gave me a pep-talk?"

Adrien was silent. "It's funny to think about that," Adrien said. "How one accidental meeting changed everything."

"It's because of you I came back to Paris a changed woman who didn't give up on her dream."

Adrien shifted, rolling over so he could curl her against his chest. "I can't even imagine Paris without you, now, my lady. My love."

Marinette grinned, happily snuggling against her husband. "I love you. You're the best friend, husband, and father I could ever have asked for."

She felt him press a kiss to her head. "I love you, too, my wonderful ladybug. I love you so much."


End file.
